To mark the 25th anniversary (last November) of their 'UNIT' album, ('Polyester Girl' is 25!), Regurgitator will tour nationally performing the record in all its pixelated density, along with an extended set of their hits across time, this May.
Returning will be 'UNIT'-era Regurgitator keytarist Shane Rudken, along with Ken Weston turning up the multi-dimensional in an ocular sense on full-pixel visuals.Regurgitator will be joined together in plasma by a plethora of dynamic musical cohorts they've curated: DZ Deathrays, Custard, Butterfingers and Glitoris.
As the presser says: 'Code for rhymes. Products of time.'
Here, co-frontman Quan Yeomans shares a few memories from the times during the making of 'UNIT', an album that peaked at #4 on the ARIA album charts, and claimed five ARIA Awards (including Album Of The Year), which was a staggering achievement at the time for a scrappy, DIY, underground, experimental hybrid band.
"To be honest I recall so little of that time, but the few memories I do have return with an enduring fondness," begins Quan.
"I remember we had just finished recording what we all believed at the time, to be our sh.tty sophomore album, and we were in Giza doing this photoshoot for the cover in an actual Egyptian tomb that our manager Paul had somehow bribed us access into.
"We were in the middle of it when suddenly we all just looked at each other and thought, 'Who the f... are we?'.
"So we abandoned the shoot and found a single mother from Cleveland with big boobs to pose in a wet T-shirt for it instead.
"When parents' groups protested the cover on its initial release, we were devastated and had no idea what to do. I was 'round my mate Stavros's place moaning about it, when he said 'how 'bout a yellow circle on a silver square? Everyone likes circles.'
"In January 1997, we embarked on a US tour which would only last one and a half weeks because of multiple show cancellations and deterioration within the group.
"This was mostly due to managerial disagreements, the issue of my worsening ice habit and negative interactions with members of the audience.
"In San Diego, an audience member made the mistake of antagonising me. Then, I think while screaming 'fish f...er', I struck him on the head with my mic stand. Before we took the stage of the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas, again in ice withdrawal, I seem to recall carving the words 'very enya' into my bare chest with a razor.
"After the show at Denver, the band more or less fell apart, freeing me to do as I pleased. I then embarked on a path of destruction, only stopping briefly to record lead vocals on a song for a Disney soundtrack album.
"I recorded the track in less than three hours; though, apparently the recording consisted of nothing more than me rambling about 'bitches'. It took Jacques and Sasha a week to assemble just four rhymes out of the incoherent mess, and they had to re-record the track and title it 'Bitches'.
"Tragically, early on 13 May, 1998, Shane our keyboard player was found dead on the street below his room in Hotel Prins Hendrik, Amsterdam, with serious wounds to his head, apparently having fallen from the fourth-story window.
"Heroine and cocaine were found in his room and in his body. There was no evidence of a struggle, and the death was ruled an accident. This was verified by a testimonial account that he had inadvertently locked himself out of his room and subsequently fell while attempting to cross from the balcony of the vacant adjacent room to his own.
"There are, however, still rumours persisting to this day surrounding his death, including speculation of foul play.
"A close friend told me that 'Shane had gotten mixed up with some bastards. . . who ripped him off for his supply. They'd force fed him ketamine and then murdered him.
"A Twitter user then posted a photo of the body on the social networking site and wrote a confession saying they had killed him because he had played black metal, but wasn't a true Satanist.
"As far as the patchy legacy of the music goes, it remains a matter of vastly varied opinion. I myself see little value in it, though I will say it was an absolute pleasure diddling around on it with my colleagues at the time.
"It's an amazing experience to have the opportunity to time travel 25 years into the past with all the fans and ruminate upon a time in our lives so charged with naive possibility and utter confusion."
Regurgitator's '25 Years Of UNIT' mini festival takes place at Eatons Hill Outdoors & Ballroom (Brisbane) 25 March.
25 Years Of Regurgitator's 'UNIT' Line-up
Regurgitator (performing 'UNIT' in full plus more)DZ Deathrays
Custard
Models
Butterfingers
Screamfeeder
Resin Dogs
Flangipanis
Glitoris
Mitch, Please
The Stress Of Leisure
Platonic Sex
Cable Ties* new addition
Cheap Date* new addition
Soy Division* new addition
Regurgitator's 'UNIT' 25th Anniversary 2023 Tour Dates
Fri 12 May - City Hall (Hobart)Sat 13 May - Forum Melbourne* sold out
Sun 14 May - Forum Melbourne* new show
Sat 20 May - Roundhouse (Sydney)
Sun 21 May - ANU Kambri (Canberra)
Sat 27 May - Bridgeway Hotel (Adelaide)
Sun 28 May - Metro (Perth)
Regurgitator's 'UNIT' 25th Anniversary 2023 Line-up
RegurgitatorDZ Deathrays
Custard* except Hobart
Butterfingers
Glitoris
