The Truth were an Australian funk band, active from 1991 to 1997. The lineup included

Nicky Bomba Nicholas Caruana (born 7 September 1963), also known as Nicky Bomba, is an Australian musician and singer-songwriter. He is the leader of the ARIA Award-winning Melbourne Ska Orchestra, frontman of his band, Bomba, as well as the former drumme ...

(a.k.a. Nicholas Caruana) on drums, his older brother Michael Caruana on keyboards, Mick Girasole on

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, Tony Kopa on

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

and Geoff Wells on

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

s. They released two albums, ''The Truth'' (1994), which peaked in the top 60 on the

ARIA Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

, and ''Headspace'' (1997).

History

1991–1993: Career beginnings

The Truth were formed in Melbourne in 1991 by

(a.k.a. Nicholas Caruana) on drums, his older brother, Michael Caruana on keyboards, Tony Kopa on vocals and Geoff Wells on guitars. For about a year they held a residency at the 120 Bar,

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

. In December 1992 they recorded their debut single, "Secrets". The band gained popularity, by performing around Melbourne, and from their tracks, "My Heavy Friend" and "Secrets", receiving airplay on national youth 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 ...

.Geoff Wells' mySpace page
/ref> A live-in-the-studio version of "My Heavy Friend" was included on Triple J's compilation album by various artists, '' Live at the Wireless 3'' (1993). As a consequence, "My Heavy Friend", was issued as their second single in 1993.

1994–1997: ''The Truth'', ''Headspace'' and break up

Their self-titled first studio album, ''The Truth'' was released via Mushroom Records in July 1994. It was produced by Jim Hilbun ( The Angels' bass guitarist). It peaked in the top 60 on the

. For touring the band had no traditional bass player: bass lines were provided by Michael "Funkmeister" Caruana on keyboards. Wells told Nicole Leedham of ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'', in November 1994, "It's very rare to have overnight success and it's even rarer for someone who has it to stay around a while. If it was overnight success it was a bloody long night." At the

ARIA Music Awards of 1995 The Ninth Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAS) was held on 20 October 1995 at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre. There had been a 18-month gap since the ...

, "My Heavy Friend" was nominated for

ARIA Award for Best New Talent The ARIA Music Award for Best New Talent was an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards. It was presented from 1987 through to 1998. The award for Best New Talent was first presented in 1987. Crowded House won the award with their single "D ...

. For the band's second album, ''Headspace'' was released in 1997., Mick Girasole was added on bass guitar. The band broke up toward the end of that year.

1998–present: After The Truth

Nicky Bomba formed the band, Bomba, in 1999 for whom Caruana played keyboards. Bomba also joined

the John Butler Trio The John Butler Trio are an Australian Folk music, roots/Rock music, rock band led by guitarist and vocalist John Butler (musician), John Butler, an Australasian Performing Right Association, APRA and ARIA-award-winning musician. They formed in F ...

from 2003 – led by

John Butler John Butler may refer to: Arts and entertainment *John "Picayune" Butler (died 1864), American performer * John Butler (artist) (1890–1976), American artist *John Butler (author) (born 1937), British author and YouTuber *John Butler (born 1954), ...

who was married to Bomba's and Caruana's youngest sister,

Danielle Caruana Danielle Caruana, known professionally as Mama Kin, is an Australian singer-songwriter. She has released two albums, ''Beat and Holler'' and ''The Magician's Daughter''. She lives with her family in Fremantle. Early life Caruana grew up in th ...

(who performs as Mama Kin). Wells was a session musician for

Daryl Braithwaite Daryl Braithwaite (born 11 January 1949) is an Australian singer. He was the lead vocalist of Sherbet (1970–1984 and many subsequent reunions). Braithwaite also has a solo career, placing 15 singles in the Australian top 40, including t ...

Tina Arena Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwid ...

and John Farnham. Farnham recorded one of Wells' tracks, "The Way" on his album '' 33⅓'' (2000). "The Way" was track four on ''The Truth''. Kopa became a backing musician for

Jon Stevens Jon Stevens (born 8 October 1961) is a New Zealand singer, best known for his work with Noiseworks and ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. Biography 1980–1986: career beginnings and ''Jezebel'' Stevens was born in Upper Hutt, New Zealand, and is ...

' solo shows and also appeared on the artist's album, '' The Works'' (2005). He also appears on a semi-regular basis with

Black Dogs ''Black Dogs'' is a 1992 novel by the British author Ian McEwan. It concerns the aftermath of the Nazi era in Europe, and how the fall of the Berlin Wall in the late 1980s affected those who once saw Communism as a way forward for society. The ma ...

. The Truth returned to the stage in 2003 for a one-off gig at The Espy in St Kilda.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. , - ,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, "My Heavy Friend" ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Truth Victoria (state) musical groups Australian funk musical groups Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups disestablished in 1997