Sunday, March 31, 2024

Futile

 
ORIGINS: Lower Blue Mountains
GENRE: Metal, Heavy Alternative
YEARS ACTIVE: 1995-2000
 
MEMBERS:
  • Matt Cleary (Vocals, Guitar)
  • Nathan Cox (Drums)
  • Nick Qumivutia (Guitar) [1995-1997]
  • Craig Rozinski (Bass) [1995-1997]
  • Ben Parker (Bass) [1998-2000]
RELEASES: 
  • Demo (1997)
    • 1. The Victim
    • 2. Brothers
    • 3. Mushroom
    • 4. Hermit

  • Self-Titled (1998) - Download Here.
    • 1. Liar
    • 2. The Damned
    • 3. Bubbles
    • 4. The Sure Thing
    • 5. Sleep
    • 6. Rape
    • 7. One Dead Friend
    • 8. Budrunner
SUMMARY: Influenced by bands like Tumbleweed, Mudhoney, Helmet, White Zombie, You Am I, Budd, Sepultura, Fear Factory, and Zambian Goat Herders, the band Futile was formed by some high school students with a shared love of heavy music. Unusually for a Blue Mountains-based local band of teenagers, they went on tour and played their first show in Queensland. The band broke up in 1997, with Cox and Cleary going on to form the shortlived band Dalkiel. After this band finished, Futile re-formed as a three piece in 1998 before winding down in 2000. The band members still occasionally jam together (as recently as 2023).
 
SHOWS: 
  • Blaxland Tavern, Blaxland - 29th March, 1997
  • Melrose Hall, Emu Plains - 19th June, 1998
  • Youth Week Big Gig, Civic Centre, Springwood - 1st May, 1999
  • Jasper, Blaxland Community Hall, Blaxland - 29th May, 1999
  • Blaxland Taverm, Blaxland - 10th June, 1999
  • Jasper, Blaxland Community Hall, Blaxland - 26th June, 1999
ORAL HISTORY:
NATHAN: Matt and Craig were the original two. I don't know how the fuck they found me but they did, then they came around for a jam and it just happened.
Nathan Cox (Drummer), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
MATT: Craig and I were at St Columbus trying to start a band. Then I went to Blaxland High and hooked up with Nick and Nathan who were already playing stuff. I think weed as the key for all of us at the time. First show we played was at a festival thing, not a big thing - it was like a local skate/fete thingy. It was in Nambour, Queensland. We thought we were the best going on tour.
Matt Cleary (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

BEN: I was friends with the band all from school. I used to go to their gigs and really liked their music. At some point for reasons unknown to me they broke up and Nathan, Matt and I wound up in another, Dalkiel, playing together with another mate named Matt Capper. After that band had run its course, it kind of pretty much turned back into Futile, and that's how I joined the band.
Ben Parker (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

MATT: The Mountains music scene was good back in the party rock days. It's not anymore... we only play the Tavern. It's our home ground. 
Matt Cleary (Vocals, Guitar), Obzine Issue 1, 1999

BEN: My favourite show was the Christian Youth Week show at the Jasper Hall in 1998. We only played for about twenty minutes.
Ben Parker (Bass), Obzine Issue 1, 1999

BEN: As odd as it may sound, some of the best gigs we played were at the Blaxland Tavern. Back at that point, they actually had a lot of good bands playing there and the three of us lived within a few hundred metres of it so we used to play there a lot and had some great times there.
Ben Parker (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

"Futile are sounding chunkier than ever, with their guitars tuned down lower than usual I believe. People seemed to crawl out of thin air, packing the tiny room. Nobody was let down because Futile put on a good show, as usual"
Review, Obzine 2, 1999

"In their time they were the heaviest band in the Lower Blue Mountains area and played a lot of Jasper concerts. Futile were one of the earliest local bands to make an impact on the local scene and built up a huge cult following."
Mark Alston (Review), Obzine Issue 16, 2000

RELATED BANDS: Dalkiel, Bred from Hate, Sickend, Day of the Dead, Case of Severed Limbs, Brown Helmet, Flying Fists of Fury, Milford, Amongst the Demons, Grenade, Steel Cap Therapy

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