BIO

Lancaster is an original 5-piece guitar-oriented indie rock band from Brisbane, Australia.

In January 2004, Lancaster celebrated the release of their first album - it's called Self Titled Debut, and is available at music retailers throughout Australia (103 Records/MGM Distribution).

Self Titled Debut is the long-awaited follow up to 2000's Bewilder Me EP. In keeping with the band's wickedly irreverent sense of humour, the confusing album title is already wreaking havoc. (For the record, media and retail references to Lancaster's Lancaster will pertain to this CD).

The band:

Lancaster is Rupert Gilbert (vocals), Mark King (guitar, vocals), Andrew Haywood (guitar), Jamie Carruthers (bass) and Derrin Cason (drums, percussion). The group formed in May 1998 and has maintained the same lineup since its inception - so far nobody has sustained serious physical injuries as a result of musical differences, which seems to be a fairly decent achievement in this turbulent age.

The individual band members have diverse tastes in music, but the group as a whole cites influences ranging from swaggering oldschool Britpop, college radio, and the grungier, sonic-terrorist side of shoegazing. Comparisons have been drawn to the likes of Teenage Fanclub, Ride, Swervedriver, Suede, My Bloody Valentine, Depeche Mode, Manic Street Preachers, The Smiths, Gene, and oldschool Radiohead. In the past, the names Oasis, Coldplay, Billy Bragg and Supergrass have also been bandied about, often as a result of Rupert's English accent (which, we can assure skeptics, stems from his birthplace, not his pretensions).

Self Titled Debut:

Any indie artist can testify that making a serious full length rock album is a major undertaking, and Lancaster have put their credit cards where their mouth is with their debut LP. Self Titled Debut marks the group's transition from weekend jangly-popsters to confident and established (if not yet famous) indie rock veterans, with a strong repertoire and a commitment to high production standards.

Self Titled Debut is a 12-song journey through anguish, cynicism, adulation and optimism. The record is dominated by huge, layered guitar sounds, counterplay of melodies, and the warm, boisterously tender vocals of UK-born singer Rupert Gilbert. Lyrically, substance abuse, frustration, and long distance relationships are recurring subjects. These simple (and co-incidental) themes are embellished with an unpretentious yet sophisticated blend of targeted fury, frank vulnerability, empathy, encouragement, and stoic defiance.

Clocking in at just under an hour long, Self Titled Debut is not a tokenistic long player - it's a no-mucking-around documentation of a significant body of highly evolved, road-tested material. It boasts the luxuries to be expected in an unhurried first record, but not without the kind of charming imperfections and character that are both the occupational hazard and the secret weapon of truly independent musicians.

The album was recorded with Anthony Lycenko (Suede, Gene, Pulp, Elvis Costello, Pete Murray, Rollerball, Giants of Science...) and Ben McCarthy (Pete Murray band) at Rockinghorse Studios (Byron Bay), Sunshine Studios (Brisbane) and Ian Haug's Airlock Studios (Samford), in a handful of sessions between mid-2001 and mid-2003. All songs were mixed at Rockinghorse Studios, with a liberal dousing of analogue toastiness. Dave Neil of Jumpstart Productions mastered the record in their brand spanking new Doggett Street suite.

The CD cover art (featured on the slick, this website, and the new series of posters) is based on original mixed media artwork kindly licensed by talented Brisbane-based visual artist Chris Booth.

The album is the launch release for Brispop.com's new label 103 Records, which has national distribution through MGM. If your favourite retailer doesn't have the record in stock, please order it in (cite MGM catalogue reference #103-001).

...If you have the means, we'd highly recommend picking one up.

The first single:

The first radio focus track from Self Titled Debut is the Fanclub-esque feelgood anthem 'Jigsaw' (Track 3), a fitting and fairly representative introduction to the group (although much of the album has much darker, moodier undertones).

A preview copy of the song received an unprecedented 12-week stint in the playlist of TripleM Brisbane's weekly local music show 'Made in Vegas' during the latter half of 2003. The album version has enjoyed regular spot play on TripleJ since Christmas 2003 and was added to the station's spot rotation list on 20 January 2004. Brisbane's 4ZzZ and other community radio stations have also shown good support for the release.

If you haven't heard the track yet, there's an mp3 available in the discography section of the site. Better still, contact your favourite radio station and request it.

The live show:

Lancaster has worked hard to earn a reputation as an engaging live act - with warm, engulfing guitar tones, booty-shaking rock grooves, and refreshingly charming, gutsy arrangements.

Aside from the occasional festival slot, Lancaster has played shows with the likes of: Powderfinger, Abdoujaparov [UK], Snout, Peabody, Bluebottle Kiss, Even, Screamfeeder, Sekiden, Pete Murray, The Boat People, Genshen, Denvar, Palladium, Dallas Crane, Eva Trout, Major, Her Majesty's Finest, Nemo, Guernica, The Daisycutters, Gota Cola, George, Gorgeous, Acre, Halfday, Halfway, Charles Foster Kane, The Daybridges, The Carousel, Canvas, Polyvinyl, Brindle, Shifter, Sean Sennett & Crush 76, Shutterspeed, and more.

Most gigs prior to the album launch have been in South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales. A vigorous performance schedule including regular interstate touring is scheduled for 2004.

Punter quote of the moment goes to a sweet but anonymous yokel at Hoogie Fest 2003 (Dalby): "If I had that song on a CD, I'd take it home and I'd f*** my wife to it".

The song he was talking about is Holding All the Aces (the epic 9th track on Self Titled Debut). Please experiment safely.

Our previous, illustrious recording career:

In 2000 (when the Lancasters were wee slips of lads) they put out a jangly-pop indie EP called Bewilder Me. They tracked, mixed and mastered four songs in a mind-bogglingly short amount of time at Rockinghorse Studios in Byron Bay. Undiscovered genius Anthony Lycenko (whose resume reads a bit like a list of Lancaster's favourite records) did a bang-up job in the Producer/Engineer seat, and thankfully steered the group's enthusiasm in the direction of a long-term collaboration.

Whilst the EP didn't exactly take the world by storm, it did meet the group's modest expectations in terms of profile. The very cool gigs that ensued came in rather handy, and it became a realistic proposition (a big deal for a fully-independent artist) to make a big, luscious studio LP. So it all worked out rather nicely.