Augie March

There's little about Augie March that could be called everyday. With singer Glenn Richards' distinctive voice, his sharp, literary lyrics and the band's off-kilter rock 'n' roll, the Melbourne band has created a niche for itself in the past 12 years, one that has brought multiple awards, taken it around the world and attracted an ever-increasing and loyal fan-base in Australia and beyond.

The world Richards has created for Augie March's fourth album, Watch Me Disappear, is certainly not everyday. Barbarians have breached its walls and are wallowing in the chaos. Muggers mug, killers kill, dragons with bulldog heads inhabit the pubs and a wealth of richly-drawn characters trade punches, kisses and everything in between. It's a place of extraordinary beauty too, a beauty that offers escape from the evil, from the anarchy - from the everyday.

Outside of these walls, high in his lofty turret, sits Glenn Richards, songwriter extraordinaire, musing on it all with a sense of wonder, bewilderment and compassion. In so doing he has created 11 sumptuous vignettes, brought to life with his characteristic poetic sweep and the band's easy chemistry and rootsy sensibility.

Watch Me Disappear is the mark of a band whose career is consistently in the ascendancy. Those who marvelled at the lyrical grace and musical majesty of Augie March's last album, the award-winning Moo, You Bloody Choir, will identify with the soaring choruses here of the instantly hummable Pennywhistle (the penny whistle motif lodges in your brain and stays there) and Richards' breezy ode to the Id, Becoming Bryn.

Once Richards had completed the material, the band spent three weeks fine-tuning it in a Melbourne studio before departing for Neil Finn's studio in New Zealand, where they were joined by Chiccarelli. After overdubs and vocals were done back in Melbourne, Richards joined Chiccarelli at the Mix Room in Los Angeles for mixing. Such overseas recording commitments have been rare for Augie March thus far. Their journey began in Shepparton, Victoria in 1996 where Richards, guitarist Adam Donovan and drummer Dave Williams had gone to school together. Joined by friend Edmondo Ammendola on bass, Augie March released their first EP, Thanks For The Memes, on Ra Records (a subsidiary of BMG) in 1998 and followed it up with another EP, Waltz, which included one of the band's best-loved songs, Asleep In Perfection.
In 2000, the band added keyboards player Rob Dawson and released their debut album, Sunset Studies, to critical acclaim, if not huge sales. However the album, with songs such as There Is No Such Place and The Hole In Your Roof, alerted Australia to a band that was thinking outside of the square and whose singer was reading a few books as well.

As their momentum built, tragedy struck. In January, 2001, Dawson was killed in a car accident, causing the band to take time out. Kiernan Box became the new keyboards player for the band's second album, Strange Bird, in 2002, an album that confirmed their credentials as a rock band with smarts as well as guts, one of few Australian acts existing somewhere outside the mainstream while on a major label.
When Moo, You Bloody Choir was released by Sony BMG in 2006, it sparked 18 months of furious activity for the band. Accolades poured in at home, with the album winning them the Australian Music Prize in 2007. The album received four ARIA Award nominations, while the single One Crowded Hour topped the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2007 and was named song of the year at the APRA Awards later in the year.
Moo was also the album that finally brought Augie March critical acclaim and a swelling fan base in the United States. The band topped off this flurry of activity by supporting Crowded House on their reunion tour.

Next stop: the West Coast Blues 'n' Roots Festival.

Visit Band Website.

Visit MySpace Website.

<< Go Back.