For 18 months during 1992 and 1993, a collective of 12 Brisbane guitar-pop bands formed the Spark collective – organising shows together, creating screen-printed posters and making a big buzz around the local music scene.
Tim Hills, the lead singer of Pale, was at the centre of all things Spark and was one of Brisbane's old-guard of the pop rock scene from an era that produced the likes of Powderfinger. “This was around the time that Powderfinger were really heavy, that was the scene! I used to get together all the pop bands, anyone who was selling cassettes or CDs.
“The Zoo had just started up and The Arena was fairly established. We made atmospheric pop, that was our genre." Pale enjoyed some national success with tracks ‘Lemon Sparked’ and ‘Huggy’ receiving high rotation on Triple J — ‘Lemon Sparked’ was voted number 62 in Triple J’s Hottest 100 circa 1994. “We were known as the band that tried different things and experimented with sound.”
Pale quickly established a reputation for intense and highly visual live performances in unusual locations as well as regularly performing at the newly-opened The Zoo, Metropolis, Babble-On and many live venues across Brisbane’s CBD, Spring Hill and Fortitude Valley. “The scene has definitely changed, I now watch my kids play at venues like The Troubadour [now Black Bear Lodge], that is how much things have changed in terms of the scene.
“The Zoo is definitely my favourite venue after playing all around Australia. It’s still the musical home of indie pop. Brisbane still has the best music scene — it would be right up there with Sydney or Melbourne. Lefty’s [live venue located on Caxton St] is a fantastic example of how things are evolving and changing.”
Ultimately the Spark collective produced a compilation album released by Yellow Music, through Mushroom Records. The collective created a wonderful launch pad for the bands, many of whom went on to further EP and album releases, record company support, national touring and festival appearances. “It was great! The Spark thing was about organising together, and because the scene was strong at that time we wanted to create a subculture within the mainstream heavy stuff.”
Later this month Spark21 aims to bring this community back together to celebrate the project as well as the notion of possibility and beginnings that fuelled it in the first place. For younger musicians, and lovers of Brisbane’s musical history, it is a once-only opportunity to see five cherished bands from the era – loud and live within The Zoo, itself an icon of the Brisbane music scene.
Written by Ted Tabet
Spark21 takes place at The Zoo Saturday August 9. Pale will be joined by Chalk, Dream Poppies, Crop Circles and The Gilberts.
