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Friday, May 24, 2024

Footlong

 
ORIGINS: Windsor, NSW
GENRE: Pop-Punk
YEARS ACTIVE: 1999-2003
 
MEMBERS:
  • Ben Moffitt (Vocals, Guitar, Keys) 
  • Mitchel Hurdis (Vocals, Bass) [2000-2003]
  • Troy Hawkett (Guitar, Backing Vocals)
  • Nic Cassey (Drums)
  • Jamie (Bass) [1999]
  • Stacey Abdilla (Vocals) [2001]
RELEASES: 
 
  • In That Lies Hope (2002) - Download Here.
    • 1. The Way Things Are Going To Be
    • 2. X's + O's
    • 3. Driving On the Lines
    • 4. Seconds Between Seeing 

  • Live Album (2003) - Download Here.
    • 1. Back At the Start
    • 2. X's + O's
    • 3. The Winter The Stars Fell
    • 4. Explode
    • 5. Slight Rebellion Off Madison
    • 6. Lucky Stars
    • 7. The Beginning
    • 8. Sorrysong
    • 9. Letting Go
    • 10. Descent Into Disillusion
    • 11. Poetry In Motion
    • 12. Your Victory
    • 13. Hey You
    • 14. More Than Ever
    • 15. The Way Things Are Going to Be
    • 16. Driving On The Lines
    • 17. In That Lies Hope
    • 18. Can You Feel the Love Tonight
SUMMARY: Forming out of another high school band at Bede Polding College, Footlong established themselves in the local scene after rotating through a handful of different names (Mad Duck Fight, Leech), with the evetual name 'Footlong' acting as a reference to the film The Sandlot Kids. Footlong predominantly played shows in the Hawkesbury region, experimenting with a second singer at one point and releasing an EP before breaking up when the members finished high school.
 
SHOWS: 

ORAL HISTORY:
BEN: Like most high school bands, it was formed out of convenience - we were all in the same year at school - and the allure of just being in a band more than anything at the start... we banged out the usual 4 chord punk songs - stuff from Blink, Millencolin, Nirvana, and so on. As time went on, we started to find our own sound and write originals. Mitch joined the band as a bass player once Jamie left to go to another school, and it was like the band really clicked into place at that point. Mitch and I wrote songs together a lot. Our first song was called 'Hey You'; it was a complete ripoff of Blink 182's 'Dammit', just a couple of frets up, and with incredibly corny lyrics about my high school girlfriend.
Ben Moffitt (Vocals, Guitar, Keys), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
TROY: Ben and I had a few classes together and we became good mates, which is when I met Mitch as well. Nic and I were in a band before that - we would have been in Year 6 or 7 and just made a lot of noise with three other guys we went to school with. When Ben, Mitch and I started hanging out in music class we talked about becoming a band and brought Nic in on the drums. 
Troy Hawkett (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

NIC: We were all experimenting with music and wanted to be in a band. I think I was playing around with other people at the time... we did a gig at the North Richmond Community Hall - it was packed, people were moshing, just letting it out. I'm really grateful to have been part of a band creating music for that. 
Nic Cassey (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

MITCH: I was the last of the main four members to join, some time in late 1999 or early 2000. We all went to the same high school but I was close friends with Ben. The others had a few classes together and got the ball rolling, probably bonding over skating or punk. Troy had played guitar in a band with Nic prior to that. I had only started playing guitar in '99 and didn't have the chops to be a third guitarist. They needed a bass player and I wanted to be in a band, so I bought the first bass I saw at a garage sale. My dad probably overpaid for it because I wasn't hiding how badly I wanted it! The lineup remained unchanged except for a brief period where Stacey joined us on vocals for a handful of shows. Ben and I split the vocal duties with Troy handling backing vocals. We practiced in Nic's shed most mnths and played every school variety night, walkathon, winter sleep-out we could.
Mitch Hurdis (Vocals, Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

From Obzine Issue 16, November 2000

BEN: We played a few band competitions and at school events over 2000, but our first 'real' gig was at the North Richmond Community Centre with 31 Turtle. By this point we pretty much had a full set of original songs. This venue ended up being the place we played the most gigs at over the years. These were my favourite shows - we had a solid group of friends and fans who would show up, pack the room, and make the shows memorable by going insane. This may or may not have had more to do with the lack of entertainment options in the Hawkesbury for young people than anything else mind you!
Ben Moffitt (Vocals, Guitar, Keys), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
  
MITCH: Our sound was very pop-punk (lots of Blink 192, The Ataris), however, second wave emo was a big influence on our songwriting (Jimmy Eat World, The Get Up Kids, Saves the Day). Ben introduced a keyboard into the mix and we soon became 'the least punk-hardcore band' on most bills. We played a number of North Richmond Community Centre shows, The Big Thing twice, Penrith Relay For Life, Penrith PCYC, McHappy Days, Hawkesbury Valley Baptist Church, and Richmond Park. We made lots of friends in other bands over those years, namely Ben Procobis, who loaned us gear and got our name onto some early lineups. We loved seeing and playing alongside Secondbest, All In Favour, Faux Pas, Jettison, 31 Turtle, From the Sidelines, and many others. Our live shows were heavily inspired by the pogo'ing pop-punk bands of the Warped Tour and At the Drive In - we probably should have just concentrated on playing our songs better!
Mitch Hurdis (Vocals, Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
TROY: We did a lot of gigs at North Richmond Youth Centre, which was kinda how we got our start in the band scene. To be honest, we would play anywhere that we were invited. Charity events, McHappy Days, school events. The Big Thing (a youth festival in the Hawkesbury) was a good one as it had a few local band that we looked up to.  
Troy Hawkett (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
MITCH: We stumbled across another band called 'Footlong' in America. I thought I was a big shot and emailed to ask them to change their name. I was probably 14, they were seasoned rockers. They made fun of our geocities website, which I deserved! 
Mitch Hurdis (Vocals, Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024


BEN: Our first recording was cheap! I can't overstate what a service Tim Walter did to the scene in that regard - if I recall correctly, we spent 2 days with him and it was only like $200. As a band of teenagers, it seemed incredible that we could scrape together money from gigs here and there and pay for a recording. It was also a really exciting and novel experience - we'd only ever played live together, so tracking everything separately was new to us, and Tim was awesome in terms of providing advice and guidance on how to find some more space and dynamics in the songs as well.
Ben Moffitt (Vocals, Guitar, Keys), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

MITCH: Recording was a dream come true and to this day I still agonise over songs I wished we recorded instead or additionally.
Mitch Hurdis (Vocals, Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
BEN: For Mitch and I, we stopped playing for the most unpunk reasons possible - to focus on our HSC and spend more time with our girlfriends! On top of this, Nic had grown somewhat tired of our sound and wanted to do his own thing. So it just kind of ran its course by 2003 or so. I think if we had kept going, the whole pop-punk side of what we were doing would have dropped off, and the emo/indie rock side would have become more pronounced. After high school, I moved away from the Hawkesbury to travel and attend university, so that kind of ended things definitively. Sadly, I never again found the kind of creative partnership I had with Mitch - he and I really gelled musically, finishing each other's song, writing melodies together and so on, so that was always such a high bar to meet. If Mitch and I still lived in the same city, we no doubt would have formed a new band, and may still be playing today. But alas, I live in Melbourne!
Ben Moffitt (Vocals, Guitar, Keys), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
MITCH: With HSC commitments and heading different directions, Footlong ended amicably. Troy and I half-heartedly tried to start something in 2004. Ben and I continue to play and record every time we were in the same country or state.  
Mitch Hurdis (Vocals, Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024


BEN: It was such a rush to be playing live - especially on the occasional times we sounded good and locked in, and the crowd was into it. The whole process of being in a creative unit bigger than yourself - writing together, arranging songs, practicing, recording, and so on, was a highlight. That sense of something better coming together by working as a group rather than doing something on your own. 
Ben Moffitt (Vocals, Guitar, Keys), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024 

TROY: I have very fond memories; met some great people in the music scene, had a lot of fun at our gigs. We were lucky to have a great place to practice at Nic's parent's house. We had a great time there.
Troy Hawkett (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
MITCH: I remember the butterflies you'd get looking forward to a show that approaching weekend, shuffling the setlist around all week, madly trying to find someone to cover your shift at work so you could make it, wondering if you really needed to drag your dad out to Penrith to video the set for the tenth or eleventh time (you did). Footlong didn't have a long time in the scene compared to other bands, and we didn't make it to whatever level came next, but it was real formative stuff and I wouldn't change much. Except the band name... all those jokes about penis lengths were a headache. It wasn't a reference to Subway but I did end up getting a job at a Subway later on. I willed it into existence!
Mitch Hurdis (Vocals, Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

RELATED BANDS: Penny Record Project, Yen, Nic Cassey (solo artist), The Gap Year, Mitchelwithonel (solo artist)








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