Powderfinger were an Australian
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band formed in
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
in 1989. From 1992 until their break-up in 2010, the line-up consisted of vocalist
Bernard Fanning, guitarists
Darren Middleton and
Ian Haug, bass guitarist
John Collins John Collins may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* John Collins (poet) (1742–1808), English orator, singer, and poet
* John Churton Collins (1848–1908), English literary critic
* John H. Collins (director) (1889–1918), American director an ...
and drummer
Jon Coghill. The group's third studio album ''
Internationalist'' peaked at No. 1 on the
ARIA Albums Chart in September 1998. They followed with four more number-one studio albums in a row: ''
Odyssey Number Five'' (September 2000), ''
Vulture Street'' (July 2003), ''
Dream Days at the Hotel Existence'' (June 2007) and ''
Golden Rule'' (November 2009). Their top-ten hit singles are "
My Happiness" (2000), "
(Baby I've Got You) On My Mind
"(Baby I've Got You) On My Mind" (also known simply as "On My Mind") is the first single from the fifth studio album by Powderfinger. It was released as a single on 16 June 2003 and reached 9 on the Australian Singles Chart, the band's third-hi ...
" (2003) and "
Lost and Running" (2007). Powderfinger earned a total of eighteen
ARIA Awards, making them the second-most awarded band behind
Silverchair. Ten Powderfinger albums and DVDs certified multiple-
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Platinu ...
, with ''Odyssey Number Five'' – their most successful album – achieving eightfold platinum certification for shipment of over 560,000 units.
After the release of their first DVD, ''
These Days: Live in Concert'' (September 2004), and the compilation album ''
Fingerprints: The Best of Powderfinger, 1994–2000'' (November 2004), the group announced a hiatus in 2005. The June 2007 announcement of a two-month-long nationwide tour with Silverchair,
Across the Great Divide tour
The Across the Great Divide tour was a concert tour by Australian alternative rock bands Powderfinger and Silverchair in 2007. The tour featured concerts in 26 towns across Australia and multiple shows in New Zealand. According to Powderfinge ...
, followed the release of ''Dream Days at the Hotel Existence''. Powderfinger were also involved in various philanthropic causes. In 2005, they performed at a
WaveAid
WaveAid was a fund raising concert held on Saturday, 29 January 2005, as a means for raising funds for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, known as the Boxing Day tsunami. It was held at the Sydney Cricket Ground and broadcast on ...
concert in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, to help raise funds for areas affected by the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...
. Another performance at the
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...
in October 2007 raised funds for
breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...
victims and their families. One aim of their Across the Great Divide Tour was to promote the efforts of
Reconciliation Australia
Reconciliation Australia is a non-government, not-for-profit foundation established in January 2001 to promote a continuing national focus for reconciliation between Indigenous (i.e. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people) and non-Indige ...
, and awareness of the gap in life expectancy between
Indigenous and non-Indigenous children. In April 2010 Powderfinger announced that they would be breaking up after their
Sunsets Farewell Tour, declaring it would be their last, as they had musically said everything they wanted to say. On 13 November 2010, they played their last concert, signifying their disbandment. In November the following year, rock music journalist Dino Scatena and Powderfinger published a biography, ''Footprints: the inside story of Australia's best loved band.''
On 23 May 2020, the band reformed for a one-off
livestream
Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...
ed charity performance, ''
One Night Lonely''.
History
1989–1993: Formation and early releases
Powderfinger were formed in 1989
by
Steven Bishop
Steven Bishop (born 3 March 1970) is an Australian drummer, formerly of Australian band Powderfinger
Powderfinger were an Australian rock band formed in Brisbane in 1989. From 1992 until their break-up in 2010, the line-up consisted of vo ...
(ex-the Eternal) on drums,
John Collins John Collins may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* John Collins (poet) (1742–1808), English orator, singer, and poet
* John Churton Collins (1848–1908), English literary critic
* John H. Collins (director) (1889–1918), American director an ...
(the Eternal) on bass guitar, and Ian Haug (the Vibrants, the Fossils) on guitar and vocals.
The Eternal, the Vibrants, and the Fossils were other Brisbane-based outfits.
All three members of Powderfinger were students at
Brisbane Grammar School
, motto_translation = Nothing Without Labour
, established = 1868
, type = Independent, day & boarding
, gender = Boys
, denomination = Non-denominational
, slogan =
, key_people =
, ci ...
– a private school in
Spring Hill – and they started as a
cover band playing
pub rock
Pub rock is a rock music
Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particu ...
classics by
the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
,
the Doors
The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...
,
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
,
Steppenwolf,
Rodriguez, and
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...
.
The band's name comes from Young's
song of the same name.
Despite their popularity in Brisbane, when playing a
heavy metal gig in
Newcastle, New South Wales
Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area, w ...
, in 1990, Powderfinger were booed off stage.
After completing secondary education, Collins and Haug attended the
University of Queensland
, mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work
, established =
, endowment = A$224.3 million
, budget = A$2.1 billion
, type = Public research university
, chancellor = Peter Varghese
, vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry
, city = B ...
, where the latter met
Bernard Fanning in an economics class – and learned that Fanning had similar interests in music and could sing.
Fanning took over the role of
lead vocals
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...
from Haug and also provided guitar and harmonica.
Late in 1990, Jon Coghill – another university student with Fanning and Haug – replaced Bishop on drums, which was described as a "mutual leaving".
Bishop later worked in London-based bands based in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, UK, before returning to Brisbane where he was a member of Moonjuice and then the Haymakers. Powderfinger's final line-up change was in 1992 with the addition of
Darren Middleton (The Pirates) on guitar, keyboards, and backing vocals.
Powderfinger initially performed cover versions of other artists' songs, but gradually developed by writing and performing their own material.
In August 1992, the group self-funded a seven-track
self-titled extended play, also known as the ''Blue EP'', on their own Finger label, and the album was distributed by MDS.
It was produced by Leroy Bath and Ian Taylor, and recorded at Broken Toys Studios, Brisbane.
The EP has an early version of "
Save Your Skin", co-written by Coghill, Collins, Haug, Middleton, and Fanning;
it was later expanded and released in July 1994 as a
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
from their debut album, ''
Parables for Wooden Ears
''Parables for Wooden Ears'' is the debut studio album released by the Australian band Powderfinger. It was released on 18 July 1994 by Polydor Records, after recording at the Metropolis Studios in Melbourne during February 1994.
The album was r ...
''.
Their second EP, ''
Transfusion'', was issued in September 1993 and distributed by
Polydor Records
Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...
.
At that time, Simon McKenzie of ''Time Off'' noted they were "hoping the major label will put a bit of weight behind the disc, but it's not as though they've signed a record deal or anything".
McKenzie felt the EP showed they were "wanting to get heavier and louder for a long time, but is it also a reaction against the sixties tags they've been stuck with?".
The five tracks include "Reap What You Sow", which reached the No. 1 spot on the
ARIA Alternative Singles Chart,
replacing
Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
's "
Heart-Shaped Box
"Heart-Shaped Box" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist, Kurt Cobain. It appears as the third track on the band's third and final studio album, ''In Utero'', released by DGC Records in September 1993. ...
".
The group recorded their first
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
, for "Reap What You Sow"; it was directed by David Barker, who subsequently directed their next seven videos.
After the EP's success, the group were signed by Polydor.
1994–1998: Early albums
In January 1994, Powderfinger performed on the
Big Day Out Tour (see
1994 line-up).
On 18 July that year, they released their debut studio album, ''Parables for Wooden Ears'', under Polydor. According to Australian rock music historian
Ian McFarlane
Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the '' Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017.
As a journalist ...
, it "featured complex, meticulously crafted rock but was somewhat ponderous and sombre, which did little to fulfil the promise displayed on ''Transfusion''".
The album was produced by
Tony Cohen
Anthony Lawrence Cohen (4 June 19572 August 2017) was an Australian music record producer and sound engineer. He worked with Nick Cave's groups the Birthday Party, and then the Bad Seeds from 1979 to 2001. In mid-1986 he had followed Cave to ...
(
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian rock music, rock band formed in 1983 by vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throughout its care ...
,
The Cruel Sea),
and Fanning later described it as the band's "dark dark days". It received limited radio coverage.
Supporting the album's release, the band toured heavily, appearing at the
Livid
LiViD, short for Linux Video and DVD, was a collection of projects that aim to create program tools and software library, software libraries related to DVD for Linux operating system.
The projects included:
* OMS
* GATOS
* mpeg2dec
* ac3dec
In 20 ...
and
Homebake
Homebake was an annual Australian rock festival, featuring an all-Australian lineup (with the occasional artist from New Zealand). The festival was first held on 3 January 1996 at Belongil Fields in Byron Bay, on the far north coast of New Sou ...
music festivals.
Powderfinger supported United States visitors
Pantera
Pantera () is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas formed in 1981, and currently comprised of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and touring musicians Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante. The group's best-kn ...
on that group's Driven Downunder Tour '94.
Another Australian support act on the tour was Newcastle-formed band
Silverchair.
Three singles were released from Powderfinger's debut album – "
Tail
The tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammals, r ...
", "
Grave Concern", and "
Save Your Skin" – but none appeared on the ARIA Singles Chart Top 50.
Following the album's release and lukewarm reception, in April 1995, the band recorded at Melbourne's Metropolis Studio with
Lachlan "Magoo" Goold (
Regurgitator) and in July released a five-track EP, ''
Mr Kneebone
''Mr Kneebone'' is the third EP by the Australian rock band Powderfinger. It was released after their first full-length studio album, ''Parables for Wooden Ears'', and before the album, ''Double Allergic''. It contains five songs, none of which w ...
''.
The band's second studio album, ''
Double Allergic'', was issued on 2 September 1996; it peaked at No. 4 on the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified triple
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Platinu ...
by ARIA for shipment of 210,000 units by 2007.
It was co-produced by
Tim Whitten and the group.
McFarlane felt this album was "more self-assured and textured
tconsolidated the band's position at the forefront of the
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
scene, alongside the likes of
You Am I,
Spiderbait
Spiderbait is an Australian alternative rock band from Finley, New South Wales, formed in 1991 by bass guitarist and singer Janet English, drummer and singer Kram (musician), Kram, and guitarist Damian Whitty. In 2004 the group's cover version o ...
, Silverchair, Regurgitator and Tumbleweed.
he album
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
was full of accessible, spirited rock".
Australian rock music journalist
Ed Nimmervoll noted "
trevealed a significant shift towards accessible rock songs rooted in melodic grooves. Powderfinger's reason to be is to create songs strong enough for the band and audience to play and hear months or years down the line".
Four singles were released from the album – "
Pick You Up
"Pick You Up" is the first single released from Powderfinger's second album ''Double Allergic''. The single was released on 13 April 1996, and was Powderfinger's first moderate success both on commercial and Indie radio stations, and the most s ...
", "
D.A.F.", "
Living Type
"Living Type" is the third single released from Powderfinger's second album ''Double Allergic''. The single was released on 11 November 1996. The song, written by Bernard Fanning, the band's lead singer, concerned the victims of Charles Manson. ...
", and "
Take Me In". "Take Me In" was released as a video single featuring several other music videos by the group. FasterLouder, a music review web site, recalled that "when ''Double Allergic'' was released in 1996, it showed the band were here for the long haul to become arguably one of the best of the decade".
In 1997 the album was issued in Canada and the group toured North America to promote it.
1998–2003: Critical acclaim and chart success
![IanHaug2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/IanHaug2007.jpg)
On 7 September 1998, Powderfinger released their third studio album, ''
Internationalist'', which peaked at No. 1 and spent 101 weeks in the Top 50 of the ARIA Albums Chart; it was produced by
Nick DiDia (
Rage Against the Machine,
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...
).
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
's Jonathan Lewis had mixed feelings about the album. He was enchanted by its lead single, "
The Day You Come
"The Day You Come" is a song from the third studio album by Powderfinger. It was released as a single on 10 August 1998 by Universal Music Group. It won the ARIA Music Awards of 1999, 1999 ARIA Music Award for ARIA Award for Single of the Year, S ...
"; however, he believed "the rest of the album didn't measure up" except for "some fine tracks" in "Don't Wanna Be Left Out" and "Already Gone".
Nevertheless, by 2007 the album had shipped over 350,000 copies and was certified five times platinum domestically,
and it had reached European audiences.
''Internationalist'' was the first Powderfinger album to win any
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...
.
[ At the 1999 ceremony it won "Album of the Year", "Best Rock Album", and "Best Cover Art" (by Kevin Wilkins), and "The Day You Come" won "Single of the Year".] "Passenger
A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The ...
", another single from ''Internationalist'', was nominated for three additional categories in the following year.[ The band was both praised and criticised for their political views on ''Internationalist''. In a November 1998 interview with Benedict Watts of ''Juice Magazine'', Haug said that political messages in "The Day You Come" were not something they were just preaching about, but rather were something they saw as a responsibility.]
Powderfinger's fourth studio album, '' Odyssey Number Five'', was released on 4 September 2000, and also peaked at No. 1. ''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
''s Marc Weingarten provided a positive review and found the group "prove that there's still terrain left to be explored nguitar rock ... melancholy is the default mode ... hey
Hey or Hey! may refer to:
Music
* Hey (band), a Polish rock band
Albums
* ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014
* ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980
* ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...
can be as prim as Travis or as mock-grandiose as Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.”
The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
". However, Allmusic's Dean Carlson was more negative, seeing the album as "little more than a slightly off-base perspective into the world of mid-90s American grunge
Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...
". ''Odyssey Number Five'' is Powderfinger's most commercially successful album, shipping 560,000 copies and certified eight times platinum by 2004. It also appeared on the New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
Albums Chart at No. 15. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2001, the group won "Album of the Year", "Highest Selling Album", "Best Rock Album", "Best Cover Art" (by Wilkins), and "Best Group".
Two of ''Odyssey Number Five''s tracks featured on film soundtracks: "These Days
These Days may refer to:
Music
Albums
* ''These Days'' (Bon Jovi album), and the title song (see below)
** These Days Tour, a 1995–1996 tour by Bon Jovi in support of the above album
* ''These Days'' (Crystal Gayle album), 1980
* ''These D ...
", written for '' Two Hands'' (1999), and "My Kind of Scene
"My Kind of Scene" (also marketed as "My Kinda Scene", "Not My Kinda Scene" and "It's Not My Kinda Scene") is a song by Australian rock band Powderfinger. The song was initially written for their fourth studio album ''Odyssey Number Five''; howe ...
" in '' Mission: Impossible 2'' (2000). Singles from the album are "My Kind of Scene", " My Happiness", " Like a Dog", and the double A-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...
" The Metre" / "Waiting for the Sun". "My Happiness", which peaked at No. 4 in Australia and No. 7 in New Zealand, is the group's highest-charting single in both countries. At the ARIA Awards ceremony, "My Happiness" won "Single of the Year", and other songs were nominated in various categories.[ Their tracks received votes from national radio station ]Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...
's listeners on annual Hottest 100
The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music listener poll hosted by the publicly-funded, national Australian youth radio station, Triple J. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Australian and alternative music of the y ...
lists: "These Days", "Already Gone", " Good-Day Ray", and "Passenger" were ranked in 1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
, and "My Happiness" and "My Kind of Scene" in 2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
. In 2009, "These Days" was voted at No. 21 and "My Happiness" at No. 27 in the Hottest 100 of all time, placing them as second- and fourth-highest Australian tracks after the Hilltop Hoods' "The Nosebleed Section
"The Nosebleed Section" is a song by the Australian hip hop music group Hilltop Hoods. It was released as a radio single in 2003, and was the final single release from their 2003 album '' The Calling''. The chorus and backing beat of "The N ...
" and Hunters & Collectors
Hunters & Collectors are an Australian rock band formed in 1981. Fronted by founding mainstay, singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Seymour, they developed a blend of Pub rock (Australia), pub rock and funk, art-funk. Other mainstays are John ...
' " Throw Your Arms Around Me", respectively.
2003–2005: Rock resurgence
Powderfinger's '' Vulture Street'' was released on 4 July 2003, and became their third album to peak at No. 1 in Australia, while in New Zealand it reached No. 17. Recorded in January and February 2003, it was named for the location of the band's first recording room in West End, Brisbane. ''The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
''s music critic Bernard Zuel
Bernard Zuel is an Australian music journalist. Zuel wrote for Fairfax Media newspapers ''The Age'' and ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' since 1992. He became their senior music writer and reviewer. Zuel is a judge of the Australian Music Prize a ...
approved of "a rawer, louder, but by no means unrefined, album" with "a real energy here that has some connections to early Powderfinger, but bears the mark of a superior intellect"; he felt it had Haug and Middleton "dominating in a way they had not since their 1994 debut" album. Simon Evans of musicOMH
MusicOMH (stylized as musicOMH) is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.
History
MusicOMH was founded and launched by ...
described the group as having "opted for a visceral live feel, adding a real punch to songs". Middleton explained that the band's aim was to "get a sound in the songs that was reminiscent of things we grew up loving, which was Bowie, Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...
, Kiss
A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
... that sort of thing; all based in the 70s. We wanted to sonically have that as well, so it's a very old-school-sounding record. It's all the old amps, we used old guitars and recorded to tape, of course. It's fairly organic in that sense". ''Vulture Street'' won four ARIA Awards in 2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
: "Album of the Year", "Best Group", "Best Rock Album", and "Best Cover Art" (by Steven Gorrow, Revolution Design).[ Singles issued from the album are: "](Baby I've Got You) On My Mind
"(Baby I've Got You) On My Mind" (also known simply as "On My Mind") is the first single from the fifth studio album by Powderfinger. It was released as a single on 16 June 2003 and reached 9 on the Australian Singles Chart, the band's third-hi ...
", " Since You've Been Gone", "Love Your Way
"Love Your Way" is a song from Powderfinger's fifth studio album '' Vulture Street''. It was the second single released from ''Vulture Street'' in September 2003 and reached No. 37 on the Australian music chart.
The single's artwork is a ...
", and " Sunsets". Tracks were also nominated for awards in 2003 and 2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
.[
In September 2004 the group issued their first live album, '' These Days: Live in Concert'', initially as a CD, and followed in October with a two-disc ]DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
. One single, "Stumblin'
"Stumblin'" is a song by Australian rock group Powderfinger, which is a track on their fifth album, '' Vulture Street'' (4 July 2003). A live version was issued on 4 June 2004 as a promotional single from the group's first live album, '' These D ...
", which had appeared on ''Vulture Street'', was issued as a live version. In late October they released a compilation album, '' Fingerprints: The Best of Powderfinger, 1994–2000'', which included many of their singles from the first four albums as well as non-singles "Thrilloilogy" and "Belter", and a re-release of "These Days". "These Days", although never officially released as a single, was ranked at No. 1 on the Triple J Hottest 100 poll of 1999. The album also included two new songs: " Bless My Soul" and "Process This", although only "Bless My Soul" was released as a single. Following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...
, Powderfinger appeared at the WaveAid
WaveAid was a fund raising concert held on Saturday, 29 January 2005, as a means for raising funds for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, known as the Boxing Day tsunami. It was held at the Sydney Cricket Ground and broadcast on ...
fundraising concert in January 2005 in Sydney, to raise funds for aid organisations working in the disaster-affected areas. Fanning, as a member of The Wrights, sang lead vocals on " Evie, part 2" at the concert. The Wrights released a studio version in March as a single with some of the proceeds going to tsunami relief efforts.
2005–2006: Side projects
After the WaveAid concert, from early 2005, Powderfinger had a period of hiatus. During the separation, most band members pursued other musical projects; on the personal front, Haug and Middleton each had children, and Fanning met his future wife. Middleton's side project, Drag, had issued an EP, ''Gas Food Lodging
''Gas Food Lodging'' is a 1992 American drama film written and directed by Allison Anders and starring Brooke Adams, Ione Skye, and Fairuza Balk. It tells the story of a waitress trying to find romance while raising two daughters in a trailer ...
'', in 2002. Zombos Reviews found the EP was "full of well-written jangly pop, and has some rather nice ballads". Their debut album, '' The Way Out'', recorded in March 2005 and released on 10 July, was "a tad disappointing ompared with the EP... mostly mid-tempo pop-rock songs, mixed with some slower, pretty ballads. Everything's tastefully arranged, and there's always nice melodies and harmonies". Collins and Haug formed The Predators with Powderfinger's former drummer, Steven Bishop, now on drums and lead vocals. The group released a six-track EP, ''Pick Up the Pace
''Pick Up the Pace'' is the debut EP by Australian alternative rock band The Predators. It was released on 1 July 2006 through Dew Process and Universal Music Australia. The EP was produced after Powderfinger entered a hiatus, and several of its ...
'', in July 2006 and undertook a short tour around Australia.
In October 2005 Fanning issued his debut solo album, '' Tea & Sympathy'', which reached No. 1 in Australia and No. 11 in New Zealand. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2006
The 20th annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAS) were held on 29 October 2006 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex. Presenters on the night includ ...
, Fanning won in four categories including "Album of the Year" for ''Tea & Sympathy'' and "Best Video" for its lead single, " Wish You Well". "Wish You Well" was ranked at No. 1 on the Triple J Hottest 100 poll in 2005. At the end of 2006, Fanning toured in support of the album's release in the United Kingdom and North America; at its conclusion, Powderfinger resumed from their hiatus. Fanning compared his solo work to Powderfinger recordings, saying, "when a problem came up in the studio, especially guitar-wise, I've always had Darren and Ian to call on. They could usually come up with something good. But I played all the guitar on it, and my abilities are fairly limited" and that "Powderfinger is my real job and I'm looking forward to doing it again".
2007–2008: Return from hiatus
Powderfinger started recording their sixth studio album, '' Dream Days at the Hotel Existence'', in January 2007; it was released on 2 June. Debuting at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart – their fourth to do so consecutively – it broke the Australian digital sales record with over 3,000 copies sold online. In general, reviewers did not rate it as highly as its predecessor ''Vulture Street'', with Cameron Adams of the ''Herald Sun
The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...
'' HiT describing it as "No radical reinvention, no huge change in direction ... In a word: consistent". Zuel described it as "Powderfinger's first dull album" but the band as "the biggest rock band in the country." " Lost and Running", their first single for three years, had been issued in May, and reached No. 5. A second single, "I Don't Remember
"I Don't Remember" is a song by Australian alternative rock band Powderfinger, from the album ''Dream Days at the Hotel Existence''. It made its radio debut on 9 July 2007 on Australian radio stations, and was subsequently released as a single ...
", appeared in August. One song from the album, "Black Tears
"Black Tears" is a song by Australian alternative rock band Powderfinger, from their sixth studio album ''Dream Days at the Hotel Existence''. The song is an acoustic ballad in a folk music style, beginning with one guitar and a lead vocal, la ...
", was amended following concerns that it could prejudice a trial over the 2004 Palm Island death in custody
The 2004 Palm Island death in custody incident relates to the death of an Aboriginal resident of Palm Island, Cameron Doomadgee (also known as "Mulrunji") on Friday, 19 November 2004 in a police cell. The death of Mulrunji led to civic disturb ...
case. Fanning stated that an alternative version would be on the album as a result of the concerns. On 18 August that year, Powderfinger performed a concert in Karratha as part of Triple J's AWOL Series. The band was supported by The Grates and Muph N Plutonic, and various local acts. While in Karratha, Fanning and Coghill visited Gumala Mirnuwarni, a local school in Roebourne that encourages children to stay in school.
In June 2007 Powderfinger and Silverchair announced the nine-week Across the Great Divide tour
The Across the Great Divide tour was a concert tour by Australian alternative rock bands Powderfinger and Silverchair in 2007. The tour featured concerts in 26 towns across Australia and multiple shows in New Zealand. According to Powderfinge ...
to promote reconciliation with Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
. From August to October that year the two groups toured all state capital cities as well as fourteen Australian regional centres, and included four performances in New Zealand. They performed 34 concerts in 26 towns across Australia, with an estimated total of 220,000 people in attendance. On 1 December, a triple-DVD set was released with the same title as the tour, with the Melbourne performances for both bands and backstage footage from the tour. The schedule consisted of three main parts, beginning with a supporting artist performing one set, followed by Silverchair and then Powderfinger playing the final set. The two bands united on stage during only three performances throughout the tour, including Daniel Johns (Silverchair) and Fanning sharing lead vocals on a cover version of The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
's " Substitute" at one show in Sydney and two in Melbourne.
''Dream Days at the Hotel Existence'' was the recipient of the ARIA Award for "Best Cover Art" in 2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
. It was also nominated for "Album of the Year", "Best Rock Album", and "Best Group", while "Lost and Running" received nominations for "Single of the Year" and "Best Video". Powderfinger failed to win any of these awards, with tour mates Silverchair's ''Young Modern
''Young Modern'' is the fifth and final studio album by Australian alternative rock band Silverchair, released on 31 March 2007 and co-produced by Daniel Johns and Nick Launay. The title comes from a nickname given to Daniel Johns by composer ...
'' and "Straight Lines
In geometry, a line is an infinitely long object with no width, depth, or curvature. Thus, lines are one-dimensional objects, though they may exist in two, three, or higher dimension spaces. The word ''line'' may also refer to a line segmen ...
" obtaining all five. On 28 October at the ceremony, Powderfinger performed "Lost and Running". The third single from ''Dream Days at the Hotel Existence'', " Nobody Sees", was released in December 2007. On 27 September 2008, Powderfinger performed "(Baby I've Got You) On My Mind" and AC/DC
AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...
's "Long Way to the Top
''Long Way to the Top'' was a six-part weekly Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) documentary film series on the history of Australian rock and roll, from 1956 to the modern era, it was initially broadcast from 8 August to 12 September 2 ...
" at the AFL Grand Final. Their song "Drifting Further Away" featured on ''Grey's Anatomy''s fifth season in episode 13, "Stairway to Heaven
"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by the band's guitarist Jimmy Page and lead singer Robert Plant for their untitled fourth studio album (often titled ''Led Zeppelin IV'') ...
", which aired on 21 January 2009.
2009–2010: ''Golden Rule'' and disbandment
From mid-June 2009 Powderfinger worked with DiDia producing their seventh studio album, '' Golden Rule'', which was issued on 13 November. The album peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA albums chart – becoming their fifth studio album in a row to do so. The album's lead single, "All of the Dreamers
"All of the Dreamers" is an alternative rock song recorded by Australian alternative rock band Powderfinger. The song was written by Powderfinger and produced by Nick DiDia. It was released as the lead single from Powderfinger's seventh alb ...
", was released in September. "Burn Your Name", the second single, followed in December. That same month the band performed at the 2009 Homebake
Homebake was an annual Australian rock festival, featuring an all-Australian lineup (with the occasional artist from New Zealand). The festival was first held on 3 January 1996 at Belongil Fields in Byron Bay, on the far north coast of New Sou ...
festival after a 10-year absence. In late January they toured on the 2010 Big Day Out. The third single from the album, "Sail the Widest Stretch", appeared in April.
Also in April 2010, Powderfinger announced that after 21 years the group would disband following their Sunsets Farewell Tour in September and October that year:
Coghill told ''Australian Times'' that the final tour is "going to be great fun, but it's also going to be sad". He confirmed that he had no plans to start a new band or for a solo project. Instead he intended to finish his degree, " ce I'm done with that, I might put the feelers out and see what's happening. I don't think I'd be doing anything solo, but I might look to join other bands, just to have a chance to keep playing. I'm just not keen to be off touring the world anymore". Powderfinger played their final show at the River Stage in Brisbane on 13 November 2010 in front of 10,000 fans; the last song they performed was "These Days". On 25 January 2011 the band issued a previously unreleased track, "I'm on Your Side", as a fundraiser for the Premier's Flood Appeal as a result of major flooding in Queensland from December the previous year into January. The song was available via the band's website with all proceeds going towards the cause. On 8 November 2011, the group released a second compilation album, '' Footprints: The Best of Powderfinger, 2001–2011'', containing two new tracks. There was also a 2-disc release, ''Fingerprints & Footprints – The Ultimate Collection'', combining both ''Fingerprints'' and ''Footprints'' in one set. Also in November, Dino Scatena, together with the band, published a biography, ''Footprints: the inside story of Australia's best loved band''. Scatena, a rock music journalist, had started writing the book in October of the previous year, during the Sunsets Farewell Tour.
2010–present: Afterwards
Former Powderfinger member Bernard Fanning worked on his second solo album '' Departures'' during late 2012 in Los Angeles, with Joe Chiccarelli
Joe or JOE may refer to:
Arts
Film and television
* ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle
* ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage
* ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971
* ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...
producing. It was released in June the following year and peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Middleton had relocated to Melbourne and worked with Red Door Sounds' Paul Annison – producer of Children Collide
Children Collide are an Australian indie rock band from Melbourne, Australia. The band consisted of bassist Heath Crawley and vocalist/guitarist Johnny Mackay throughout its initial run, drummer Ryan Caesar quit the band in February 2012.
Hi ...
's album ''Monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...
'' (April 2012). In December that year Middleton revealed that "I’m halfway through a new record". Middleton's album, ''Translations'', was released independently in November 2013. Around the same time Coghill was working as a journalist on the Gold Coast, while Collins was "developing business projects in Queensland".
In January 2013 Haug produced the second album, ''Sins of a Li'l Later Kiss'', by Brisbane-based folk duo Cole and Van Dijk. He then joined the Church, replacing Marty Willson-Piper, and featured on their 2014 album ''Further/Deeper
''Further/Deeper'' is the 24th album by the Australian alternative rock band The Church, released in October 2014.
It was the first Church album in five years, during which time founding guitarist Marty Willson-Piper moved to Sweden and was ...
''.
On 23 May 2020, Powderfinger reformed for a one off, live-streamed YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
charity performance titled, '' One Night Lonely'' with all proceeds going to Beyond Blue
Beyond Blue is an Australian mental health and wellbeing support organisation. They provide support programs to address issues related to depression, suicide, anxiety disorders and other related mental illnesses.
The organisation works in pa ...
and Support Act. On 25 May, an EP of the performance was released.
On 31 August 2020, Powderfinger confirmed the release of a compilation album of unreleased songs titled ''Unreleased (1998–2010)
''Unreleased (1998–2010)'' is the fourth compilation album by Australian alternative rock band Powderfinger, released on 27 November 2020. The album comprises ten previously unheard and unreleased tracks recorded between the years of 1998 and ...
'', released on 27 November 2020. It was preceded by the single "Day by Day", released on 18 September.
On 13 November 2020, Powderfinger released "Daybreak", the second single preceding the release of the album.
Musical style
Powderfinger's musical style includes hard rock and alternative music and, according to McFarlane, "the band made its mark with an earthy, blues-based sound that combined soaring, 1970s-influenced riff-rock with 1990s studio technology. With the added textures of folk, country and a soulful groove, the band was able to head in any direction". Nimmervoll acclaimed them as "one of Australia's most popular radio-friendly rock bands" which "produced music the rest of Australia embraced". McFarlane was partially disappointed with their debut 1994 album ''Parables for Wooden Ears'' compared to their earlier EP ''Transfusion''. Their 1996 album, ''Double Allergic'', was "more self-assured and textured" and "consolidated the band's position at the forefront of the alternative rock scene". It "revealed a significant shift towards accessible rock songs rooted in melodic grooves" according to Nimmervoll.
In a November 2007 interview with Paul Cashmere of the website Undercover, Middleton stated that a couple of songs they had initially written for ''Vulture Street'' "were just too ''Odyssey Number Five'' based", and that the first track, "Rockin' Rocks", was "probably the start of where we were heading with the album". Cashmere stated that the album was "the toughest e has
E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plura ...
heard Powderfinger sound". Zuel reviewed two of Powderfinger's more recent albums, and described ''Vulture Street'' as "a rawer, louder" album in comparison to ''Odyssey Number Five''; it highlighted Fanning's "talent as a lyricist" and he stated that it featured guitarists Haug and Middleton "dominating in a way they haven't since their 1994 debut". Zuel also stated that there is a "real energy here that has some connections to early Powderfinger," and described "On My Mind" as having "AC/DC
AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...
meatiness", and "Love Your Way" as "acoustic tumbling into weaving Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...
lines". In his review of ''Dream Days at the Hotel Existence'', Zuel described it as " avinghigh-gloss and muscular framework," and stated that that was what "American radio considers serious rock."
Clayton Bolger of AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
stated in his review of ''Dream Days at the Hotel Existence'' that Powderfinger "largely revisit the sound of their ''Internationalist'' album, leaving behind much of the glam and swagger of 2003's ''Vulture Street''". He commented on Fanning's "commanding and distinctive vocals", the "twin-guitar attack" of Middleton and Haug, Collins' "innovative basslines", and the "powerhouse drum work" of Coghill. Nimmervoll described ''Golden Rule'' as "Powderfinger back to its essence. They’d experimented with the sound, tried different things with the songwriting process and recorded in America with different producers. twas recorded at home, the band reunited with American Nick DiDia, who had previously worked with the band during the "classic" era, producing ''Internationalist'', ''Odyssey Number 5'' and ''Vulture Street''. They also wrote the songs as a team, with Bernard responsible for the bulk of the lyrics. The album was recorded in the same spirit, as close to the live sound as a studio album could be".
Philanthropy
Powderfinger were active in supporting causes or opposing actions taken in charitable, philanthropic, disaster, and political circumstances. In 1996, when Crowded House
Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in 1985. Its founding members were New Zealander Neil Finn (vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter) and Australians Paul Hester (drums) and Nick Seymour (bass). Later ban ...
decided to break up, they organised a farewell concert as a charity event for the Sydney Children's Hospital
Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, is an Australian children's hospital located in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales.
On 1 July 2010 it became part of the newly formed Sydney Children's Hospitals Network (Randwick and Westmead) ...
on 24 November. They approached Powderfinger and fellow Australian acts Custard
Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency fro ...
and You Am I to also appear on the steps of the Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...
. The charity event, which was recorded and later released as a live album titled '' Farewell to the World'', was claimed to have the largest Australian live concert audience, with estimates of between 100,000 and 250,000 people. In the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...
, Powderfinger performed at the WaveAid
WaveAid was a fund raising concert held on Saturday, 29 January 2005, as a means for raising funds for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, known as the Boxing Day tsunami. It was held at the Sydney Cricket Ground and broadcast on ...
fund-raising concert in Sydney in January 2005. The disaster killed more than 225,000 people from 11 countries in the area. The total profit from the funds raised from ticket sales and donations was A$2,300,000, however most of this money was spent in the administrative stream with little reaching those affected.
The song "Black Tears
"Black Tears" is a song by Australian alternative rock band Powderfinger, from their sixth studio album ''Dream Days at the Hotel Existence''. The song is an acoustic ballad in a folk music style, beginning with one guitar and a lead vocal, la ...
" from the album ''Dream Days at the Hotel Existence'' originally had the lyric "An island watchhouse bed, a black man's lying dead", which sparked fears that it might prejudice the trial of the former Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley over the 2004 Palm Island death in custody
The 2004 Palm Island death in custody incident relates to the death of an Aboriginal resident of Palm Island, Cameron Doomadgee (also known as "Mulrunji") on Friday, 19 November 2004 in a police cell. The death of Mulrunji led to civic disturb ...
case. The band claimed that the song's lyrics primarily dealt with the climbing of Uluru
Uluru (; pjt, Uluṟu ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially Gazette#Gazette as a verb, gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone geological formation, formation in the centre of Australia. It is in the southern part of the ...
by tourists despite requests from the Indigenous people of the area to respect their sacred sites and not climb. The original version of the song was retracted from the album, and replaced with an alternative version with the criticised material removed. The legal team for Hurley, who was charged with manslaughter over the death of Mulrunji
The 2004 Palm Island death in custody incident relates to the death of an Aboriginal resident of Palm Island, Cameron Doomadgee (also known as "Mulrunji") on Friday, 19 November 2004 in a police cell. The death of Mulrunji led to civic disturb ...
in 2004, had referred the song to the Attorney-General of Queensland, Kerry Shine
Kerry Gerard Shine (born 5 October 1948) is an Australian Labor politician who was member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for Toowoomba North from 2001 to 2012 and served as Attorney-General of Queensland from 2006 to 2009. He was el ...
, in their attempt at altering the track. One of Hurley's lawyers, Glen Cranny, stated that "the content and proposed timing of the song's release raises some serious concerns regarding Mr Hurley's trial". Powderfinger's band manager, Paul Piticco
Paul Piticco (born 7 March 1969) is an Australian music and hospitality entrepreneur. He is notable for managing Australian band Powderfinger and organising Splendour In The Grass. He is also Managing Director of Dew Process, Create-Control and ...
, stated that Fanning had confirmed that a line in the song was related to the case. However, he added that the lyric in question could refer to "a watchhouse in The Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...
or something".
In June 2007, Powderfinger and Silverchair announced their combined Across the Great Divide Tour, which promoted Reconciliation Australia
Reconciliation Australia is a non-government, not-for-profit foundation established in January 2001 to promote a continuing national focus for reconciliation between Indigenous (i.e. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people) and non-Indige ...
, a foundation helping to improve the welfare of the Indigenous people of Australia, and to "show hatboth bands are behind the idea of reconciliation". Reconciliation Australia increased the awareness of the 17-year difference in life expectancy between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous children of Australia. In October that year, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Powderfinger performed another concert on the steps of the Sydney Opera House. This concert was for invitees only – breast cancer patients, survivors, and their families were eligible to attend. Powderfinger performed alongside Silverchair, Missy Higgins
Melissa Morrison Higgins (born 19 August 1983), known professionally as Missy Higgins, is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. Her Australian number-one albums are ''The Sound of White'' (2004), ''On a Clear Night'' (2007) and ''The Ol ...
, and other artists to an audience of 700. The concert was filmed and later broadcast as a ''MAX Session'' on Foxtel
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...
channel MAX on 3 November.
For the Sunsets Farewell Tour in September 2010, the band promoted another Indigenous cause, the Yalari organisation. The organisation provides Indigenous children with opportunities to get a proper education. In January 2011, following the Queensland flood disaster, ndercover.fmreported that Powderfinger would not reform for a benefit concert, but the band instead donated a never-before-released track, "I'm on Your Side", to help raise money for the victims.
Personnel
Throughout their recording career, Powderfinger consisted of five members: Bernard Fanning as lead vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist, and harmonicist; John Collins as bass guitarist; Ian Haug, originally the lead vocalist until Fanning joined, played lead guitars; Darren Middleton on co-lead guitars, keyboards, backing vocals, and occasional lead vocals; Jon Coghill as drummer and percussionist. Their line-up remained stable from 1992 until their disbandment in November 2010. Steven Bishop had been the group's original drummer, but had left to focus on his studies. The band refers to one another by nicknames, including Collins as JC and Coghill as Cogsy.
Powderfinger have collaborated with various artists throughout their career: Pianist Benmont Tench played on ''Dream Days at the Hotel Existence''. For touring or session work, auxiliary musicians used include Alex Pertout on percussion, Duane Billings on percussion, and Lachlan Doley on keyboards. For their second album, ''Double Allergic'', the group enlisted Tim Whitten as producer. The group approached American expatriate Nick DiDia as their producer for ''Internationalist'', and recorded with him at Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne. DiDia also produced the two albums which followed. In 2007 Rob Schnapf, producer for Beck
Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...
, was asked to produce ''Dream Days at the Hotel Existence'' in Los Angeles. DiDia returned for ''Golden Rule''. Powderfinger's first music video, for the song "Reap What You Sow" in 1993, was directed by David Barker, an award-winning director. Film companies who directed other videos for the group include Fifty Fifty Films and Head Pictures.
Awards and accolades
Powderfinger was highly successful in the Australian recording industry, being a recipient of the industry's flagship awards, the ARIA Music Awards, 18 times from 47 nominations – the third-highest behind Silverchair's 21 wins from 49 nominations and John Farnham
John Peter Farnham Officer of the Order of Australia, AO (born 1 July 1949) is a British born Australian singer. Farnham was a Teen idol, teen pop idol from 1967 until 1979, billed then as Johnny Farnham, but has since forged a career as an Adu ...
's 20 wins from 56 nominations.[ Powderfinger's most successful year was ]2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
, when they won six awards from eight nominations for ''Odyssey Number Five'' and its related singles. "These Days" and "My Happiness" were ranked at No. 1 on the Triple J Hottest 100 lists in 1999 and 2000 respectively, and 21 other Powderfinger tracks have ranked on lists in other years.
In 2009 as part of the Q150
Q150 was the sesquicentenary (150th anniversary) of the Separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859. Separation established the Colony of Queensland which became the State of Queensland in 1901 as part of the Federation of Australia. Q15 ...
celebrations, Powderfinger were announced as one of the Q150 Icons
The Queensland's Q150 Icons list of cultural icons was compiled as part of Q150 celebrations in 2009 by the Government of Queensland, Australia. It represented the people, places and events that were significant to Queensland's first 150 years. ...
of Queensland for their role as "Influential Artists". At the ARIA Music Awards of 1996 they performed "Pick You Up", in 2019 Dan Condon of Double J rated this as one of the "7 great performances from the history of the ARIA Awards."
Discography
* ''Parables for Wooden Ears
''Parables for Wooden Ears'' is the debut studio album released by the Australian band Powderfinger. It was released on 18 July 1994 by Polydor Records, after recording at the Metropolis Studios in Melbourne during February 1994.
The album was r ...
'' (1994)
* '' Double Allergic'' (1996)
* '' Internationalist'' (1998)
* '' Odyssey Number Five'' (2000)
* '' Vulture Street'' (2003)
* '' Dream Days at the Hotel Existence'' (2007)
* '' Golden Rule'' (2009)
See also
* Music of Australia
The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...
* Popular entertainment in Brisbane
In 1975, Brisbane's first FM radio station began broadcasting from a studio at the University of Queensland Student Union. 4ZZ (later 4ZZZ) became a catalyst for the development of original music in the city. Bands such as The Saints, The ...
References
General
* Note: Archived n-linecopy has limited functionality.
*
Specific
External links
*
Darren Middleton Interview
with Nils Hay of ''Reviewed Music'' on 26 January 2012. Archived fro
the original
on 16 February 2013.
{{Authority control
Australian alternative rock groups
APRA Award winners
ARIA Award winners
Universal Music Group artists
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2010
Musical groups from Brisbane