Regular John are an Australian Psychedelic Rock band based in Sydney, NSW. The group consists of Ryan A (guitar, vocals, synths), Caleb Goman (bass, vocals), Ryan McDonald (drums) and Miles Devine (guitar).
Their first EP Marrickville 2204 was released in 2007 and followed by the single Devils Melody. Both were released on Sydney based independent label
Chatterbox Records. The Marrickville EP was named after the Sydney suburb where the group lived and rehearsed for a time. A bootleg of home recordings entitled The Ivanhoe Demos also exists and contains early versions of some tracks from The Peaceful Atom is a Bomb.
In May, 2009, they released their debut album The Peaceful Atom is a Bomb on Difrnt Music. The album was produced by
Tim Powles
Timothy Guy Gerard Powles (born 21 December 1959) is a New Zealand music producer and artist. Also known as "timEbandit" Powles, his main instrument and first love was the drums and percussion in general, though over time he's become a dab han ...
of
The Church and recorded at his Spacejunk Studios. The album was awarded
Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...
Feature Album and a place in the Australian
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
magazine's Top 50 albums of 2009. The Peaceful Atom... retained the Punk, Stoner rock and Hardcore influences of earlier material but also incorporated elements of
Prog,
Pop and
Psychedelia
Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...
. After touring with
The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
,
Helmet
A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protect ...
,
Monster Magnet
Monster Magnet is an American rock band. Hailing from Red Bank, New Jersey, the group was founded in 1989 by Dave Wyndorf (vocals and guitar), John McBain (guitar) and Tim Cronin (vocals and drums); they have since gone through several lineup ...
and
Dinosaur Jr
Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984, originally simply called Dinosaur until legal issues forced a change in name.
The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter), Lou Barlo ...
, the group were named Best Rock Act of 2009 by Australian
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
magazine. Three singles were released; 'Language', 'We Spell Love' and 'Transmitter', which featured on the soundtrack for the game Need For Speed: Shift.
In mid-2010, original guitarist Brock Tengstrom left the group and Miles Devine joined. In early 2011, Regular John appeared at the
Big Day Out
The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...
and shortly afterward toured nationally with
Motörhead
Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...
before going into the studio again with Powles for work on their second album.
Recorded again at Spacejunk Studios over summer 2011-2012, Strange Flowers was released on 15 September 2012. The first single from the album was ‘Slume’. It was accompanied by a video directed by Joel Rhys Burrows. The single received strong airplay in Australia, being nominated for
FBI Radio
FBi (call sign: 2FBI) station is an independent, not-for-profit community radio in Sydney, Australia. FBi places a heavy emphasis on local emerging music: it has a policy that at least 50 per cent of its music content is to be Australian, of wh ...
’s Song of the Year as part of their Sydney Music, Arts & Culture Award. It was added to over 100 college radio stations in the US and received two
CMJ
CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...
adds in its first week of airplay.
The album was a stylistic departure for the group, showcasing a more textured and psychedelic direction and a move away from the shorter, punkier tracks of the first album toward longer, more experimental songs. It received positive reviews with
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
awarding it four stars and calling it ‘the sort of album bands would expect to make twenty years into their career’. James Dawson of the Music Network called it ‘everything a rock album should be: honest, edgy and damn right powerful.’
In November 2012, Strange Flowers was nominated for a
J Award
The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J and which are judged by the music and on-air teams from radio stations Triple J, ...
for Australian Album of the Year and awarded Feature Album on
Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...
. It appeared in The Music Network’s Top 20 albums of 2012 and made end of year lists on various blogs.
The group has stated that their musical influences are too varied to list and claim to be just as influenced by film, literature and philosophy. Goman has credited the works of
Bill Hicks
William Melvin Hicks (December 16, 1961 – February 26, 1994) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material—encompassing a wide range of social issues including religion, politics, and philosophy—wa ...
,
Terrence McKenna,
David Lynch,
Philip K. Dick,
Arthur C. Clarke,
Stanley Kubrick,
Stanislav Grof and
Robert Anton Wilson
Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American author, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson ...
as being especially influential.
Members
*Ryan Adamson - guitar, vocals
*Caleb Goman - bass, vocals
*Ryan McDonald - drums
*Miles Devine - guitar
Discography
Album
*''The Peaceful Atom Is A Bomb'' (Difrnt Music, 2009)
*''Strange Flowers'' (Difrnt Music, 2012)
EP
*''Marrickville 2204'' (2007) - (R-Minor/Chatterbox)
[The Sydney Morning Herald, 11 May 2007, The Peaceful Atom Is A Bomb review by Erik Jensen]
Awards and nominations
J Award
The
J Awards
The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J and which are judged by the music and on-air teams from radio stations Triple J, ...
are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
's youth-focused radio station
Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...
. They commenced in 2005.
, -
, rowspan="2",
J Awards of 2012
The J Award of 2012 is the eighth annual J Awards, established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. The announcement comes at the culmination of Ausmusic Month (November). For the fifth year, three aw ...
, ''Strange Flowers''
, Australian Album of the Year
,
, -
References
External links
Official siteRegular John MySpace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Regular John
New South Wales musical groups
Australian rock music groups