| Sounds Like Chicken | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Genre(s) | Ska, Hardcore, Reggae, Rock |
| Years active | 1999 – 2007 |
| Label(s) | Boomtown Records |
| Members | |
| Nyall Dawson Nat Kitingan Dave Powys Natalie Parker Joel Dawson Ben Hobson Mike Haydon |
|
Sounds Like Chicken was a band from Melbourne, Australia released on Boomtown Records which formed in 1999 and disbanded in 2007. They are one of Australia's most well-known ska bands one of the biggest Christian bands in the country.[1] The band played a unique blend of Ska, Hardcore, Reggae & Rock.
They placed a high emphasis on touring to show off their famously high energy live performances[2]. Sounds Like Chicken shared stages and toured with such bands as...
- Reel Big Fish (USA)
- Mad Caddies (USA)
- The O.C. Supertones (USA)
- Crowned King (CAN)
- Killing Heidi
- Bodyjar
- 28 Days
- Gyroscope
- Area 7
- Hilltop Hoods
- Antiskeptic
- Kisschasy
- Behind Crimson Eyes
- The Disables
- Bagster and many more notable Australian and international acts.
Sounds like Chicken also had rotation on the radio station Triple J, mainly with their double A-side single Take a Bullet to the Grave/El Chupanebre and their other single Global Domination.
Contents |
History
Early band history
The story of Sounds Like Chicken started back in 1999 when Nathanael (Nat) Kitingan met Nyall Dawson at Monash University in Melbourne. They became friends and together with friends Michael and Aaron Elbourne hosted a radio show on student radio. That year they also met Hugh Ogilvy and decided to start a band. Early attempts at a band featured Nyall on electric violin, Hugh on guitar and Nat on drums. Needless to say this trio never really got off the ground. Nyall's brothers joined the band, Elliot on drums and Joel on saxophone. They decided to start a ska band, taking influences from Voodoo Glow Skulls, The O.C. Supertones, The Insyderz and Five Iron Frenzy. The name 'sounds like chicken' came from the fact that everything 'tastes like chicken', and they sounded like lots of things, so they effectively 'sound like chicken'. This early lineup was Nyall (vocals), Nat (bass/vocals), Elliot (drums), Joel (sax) and Hugh (guitar). Sounds Like Chicken's first show was at Joel's 21st birthday party in mid-2000. Video footage reveals that they were extremely nervous and stood as straight as statues throughout the performance. Hugh left the band at the end of 2000 due to other commitments and was replaced by Tom Dowding on guitar. Tom was an extremely accomplished bass player though and so Nat decided to swap to guitar so that Tom's talent could be fully utilised. The band decided they needed another horn and so after a couple of unsuccessful audition attempts, in 2001 Nat met Natalie Parker at university and invited her to a practice. She was apprehensive and unsure at first but the boys convinced her to join and sure enough, at her second practice she was already laying down trumpet tracks on their first demo recording which ended up becoming the band's self-made demo EP, "Slowly Going the Way of the Chicken". Sounds Like Chicken toured interstate for the first time under this lineup in September 2001[3], playing in Sydney and Canberra (minus Natalie), and also at the Black Stump Music Festival. That first tour gave the band a taste of the road and since then the band has toured Australia numerous times and continue to do so. In 2002, Tom called it quits and departed from Sounds like Chicken. Joshua Diemar then joined on bass. It was in this year that sLc released their first studio EP, "I Am Gibbon, Hear Me Roar", produced by David Carr (Antiskeptic, Taxiride). That EP took the band to another level, gaining airplay on community radio, Christian radio and even on Triple J. The band's roster became busier with more interstate touring which proved a juggling act for the boys and girl as they were all studying at university or working day jobs.
Boomtown Records era and lineup changes
In early 2004, the band were signed to Boomtown Records, a Melbourne-based indie record label distributing through Shock Records and MGM. Sounds like Chicken decided they needed a fuller sound and so asked long-time friend Dave Powys (ex Staff Discount and Never In Doubt) to join on second guitar, making them a 7-piece band. Dave moved down from Canberra and recorded on the single Global Domination, their first release with Boomtown and distributed through MGM. The single received national airplay and spot airplay on Triple J and was sold out within 2 months of its limited pressing.[4] It was noted that producer Dave Carr's production was a big step up from previous releases,[5]. It was shortly after this that Josh decided it was time to move on and the band was without a bass-player. They were booked in to record an album and so asked if Carlos Echeverria (ex Know Exit and Wishful Thinking) would fill in and record bass for them. Their first full-length album, "...Like a Cannonball to the Ocean Floor" was released late that year through Boomtown, also doing well on the airwaves. The album drew acclaim from reviewers as a "brilliantly released debut album"[6], although the mammoth effort of 17 tracks drew some criticism. Sounds Like Chicken did a joint national tour with label-mates Wishful Thinking to launch the album. Carlos officially joined shortly after the album's release. 2005 saw Sounds Like Chicken's drummer, manager and founding member Elliot Dawson leave, citing that he wished to pursue other things. For a while the band were without a drummer, but Mike "Carcass" Haydon (of Melbourne band The Knockabouts), only 17 at the time, was able to fill his shoes as drummer. Mike had been a tour roadie for the band for the past 3 years and so was already well-acquainted with their songs.[7] That year Sounds Like Chicken released the second double-A side single off the album, "Take a Bullet to the Grave/El Chupanebre" through Boomtown Records, and completed a national tour over 3 months to launch it. On November 3, 2006, founding member, Nyall Dawson, announced his decision to depart the band early in 2007. Sounds Like Chicken have played and toured with numerous well-known Australian and international acts and have been featured on various international and Australian compilations and soundtracks such as Turn the Other Cheek Volume 1.
Interesting facts
- Many will recall that Sounds Like Chicken were favourites on "Shannon's World of Punk", a segment of Adam and Will's Triple J Breakfast Show that ran until 2004.,[8]
- Sounds Like Chicken also made the list of 50 Worst Australian band names of all time in The Age[9]
Break up
On December 18th, 2006 Sounds Like Chicken announced they were calling it a day in a bulletin released on the band's MySpace. The main factors in the break up was the future departure of Nyall Dawson and other key members of the band, the band stated... "We guess it’s time for some of us to move on. God has other plans for our lives and with the impending departure of some key members, we felt that SLC would simply not be SLC if we went on without them. We all feel at peace about this decision." Shortly after, the band announced plans for a Australia wide farewell tour to take place in February-March of 2007, along with the release of a Final limited edition compilation disk called Death To The Crow to coincide with this.[10] Sounds Like Chicken's final show was held at TLC Bayswater, Victoria on Saturday the 17th of March, 2007. The band's entire discography (except for Death To The Crow) was made available for free download on their website, soundslikechicken.com.au. Former SLC members Mike, Dave, Ben, Nat and Joel together with a new member Paul are now in the new band named San Salvador, which picks up where SLC finished off.
Members
Final Members
- Natalie Parker - Trumpet/Vocals
- Joel Dawson - Tenor Saxophone
- Nyall Dawson - Trombone/"Thrashcore" vocals
- Dave Powys - Guitar/Vocals
- Nat Kitingan - Guitar/Vocals (also played bass guitar in 1999-2000 and on tour in 2006)
- Ben Hobson - Bass Guitar
- Mike Haydon - Drums
Past members
- Carlos Echeverria - Bass Guitar
- Joe Ireland - Bass Guitar (from the band Know Exit and later Goodnight Combat Fighter, an unofficial touring member who played numerous shows with SLC around Australia in 2004-2006)
- Josh "Ramsey" Diemar - Bass Guitar
- Elliot Dawson - Drums
- Tom Dowding - Bass Guitar
- Hugh "HOgilvy" Ogilvy - Guitar
Discography
Singles & EPs
- Slowly Going the Way of the Chicken (2001)
- Slowly Going the Way of the Stump (2001)
- I Am Gibbon, Hear Me Roar (2002)
- Global Domination (2004)
- Take a Bullet to the Grave/El Chupanebre (2005)
- Death To The Crow (Compilation) (2007)
Full Length Albums
Compilation Disks
- Turn The Other Cheek Volume 1
- Sorry If It's Not Cool Anymore (US)
- Freerider MX (DVD Soundtrack)
- Endtime Records Compilation Volume 1
- The Fight (DVD soundtrack)
- Boomtown Showdown 06 (Live DVD)
References
- ^ Robinson, Rowan (2005-11-24), "Sounds Like Chicken - Fowl Play", X Press Magazine, Columbia Press (980):26
- ^ http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/reviews/music/3367/
- ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20061208010403/http://www.freeza.vic.gov.au/news/articles/SoundsLikeChicken.htm
- ^ Chapman, Stephanie (2005-11-30), "Sounds Like Chicken", Base.ad 1(11):4
- ^ "CD Reviews, Sounds Like Chicken - Global Domination", page 23. Bizoo (19), June/July 2004
- ^ Clements, Jaymz (2004-12-01), "Albums", Beat Magazine (939)
- ^ http://www.timeoff.com.au/archive/1241/sixpack/2.html
- ^ (2005-11-20), "Music - 7 days",The Sunday Times Magazine, page 14
- ^ http://blogs.theage.com.au/thedailytruth/archives/2006/08/the_50_worst_au.html
- ^ (2007-03-07)"Backline Independent Music News - Expired Chicken", Inpress Magazine (958): 104
