Concrete Diver

 

ORIGINS: Lower Blue Mountains, NSW

GENRE: Grunge/Punk

YEARS ACTIVE: 1994-1995

 

MEMBERS:  

• Adam O'Sullivan (Vocals, Bass)
• Michael Travis Oseguera (Guitar)
  
• Aaron (Drums)
  

RELEASES:

 

• When the Toys Come Out to Play (1994) - Download Here.
  
• 1. When the Toys Come Out to Play
• 2. Screamer
• 3. Skin and Bone
• 4. Anti Clockwise
• 5. Hidden Track
  

SUMMARY: Concrete Diver was a short-lived three-piece punk band in the style of early '90s punk (IE. The Hard Ons, Green Day) and grunge. It is noted for featuring Adam O'Sullivan, who went on to front The Hassle Brigade.

SHOWS:

• The Axolotl, Werrington - 17th February, 1995
  
• PCYC, Penrith - 1st September, 1995
  
• Lewisham Hotel - Sunday night, unknown date and month, 1995
• Panthers Leagues Club, All Ages show - unknown date and month, 1995 

 

ORAL HISTORY:

MICHAEL: The band started mainly because of Luke Nolan and where he lived... Luke and his brother had a band and were looking for a guitarist and since I had long hair and had just started to play he asked if I wanted to jam with them. So I practiced with them a couple of times and that's when Luke introduced me to his cousin Adam. Adam and I got along instantly and just started hanging out and jamming together outside of Luke's band. I lived in Mulgoa at the time and Adam in Emu Plains and it was just easier to go to each others' house rather than get all the way to Kingswood where Luke lived and that's when the band essentially took root. Aaron came along after we decided to form the band I think we knew him through a mutual friend of Adam and mine.  

Michael Travis Oseguera, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

ADAM: I met this American guy through my cousin who I was jamming with at the time. Me and Mike (the American Guy) decided to start a 3 piece band playing Green Day style stuff, I think I was around 16 years old at the time. I introduced Mike the American to bands like The Ramones, so our songs ended up being very Ramonesy. We recorded a shitty little demo tape at this guy's home studio, and we played a few gigs - the only decent one being at the Lewisham Hotel on a Sunday night in front of the other bands and their girlfriends. Things started to go pear-shaped when we kicked out our drummer, who simply sucked.

Adam O'Sullivan, previously unpublished interview, 2009

 

MICHAEL: I remember after recording our demo we were struggling to gain ground but Adam and I were drinking somewhere near Penrith and a car that neither of us recognised was playing our demo When the Toys Come Out to Play at full blast as it drove past. Adam and I were so fucking proud of ourselves and really thought that we were getting somewhere haha... that was a huge highlight for both of us and pushed us to try harder and be better. We watched the crowds get bigger at every show and had strangers sing along to our songs. 

Michael Travis Oseguera, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

AARON: We ended up going to this gig at Panthers, it was like a downstairs Panthers all-ages jam thing, and there was a band playing there called Concrete Diver. And Concrete Diver... weren't all that good, but they were fronted by Adam, and we were like, fuck, we know this guy, this will be really cool. So Concrete Diver come up onto the stage, Adam's walked up in a pair of cut-off army slacks and a blue flanny and an AC/DC T-shirt, walked up to the 'microphone and went 'Fucken'... 1 2 3 4!' (...) Concrete Diver, they were okay at what they did, playing Hard Ons-y pop punk sort of stuff. I'm pretty sure Adam wrote all the songs. He made them.

Aaron Baker, Noise Levels Podcast Episode 1, 2024

 

MICHAEL: After our drummer got kicked out Adam and I tried to keep the momentum going and looked for a new drummer but no one seemed to fit. We played a handful of acoustic gigs and continued to write new material but we eventually just sort of went our separate ways. Not long before Adam died we started talking again and were actually looking at getting the band back together but unfortunately it wasn't to be.

Michael Travis Oseguera, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

RELATED BANDS: Cremation, The Hassle Brigade, Unstable