Sunday, July 7, 2024

Double Standard

ORIGINS: Penrith, NSW
GENRE: Punk
YEARS ACTIVE: 1997-2003
 
MEMBERS:
  • Steven 'Pud' Venarie - Vocals
  • Patrick Morrissey - Guitar
  • Pete Venarie - Drums
  • Drew McNeil - Bass (1997-2003)
  • Stephen Willis - Guitar (1997-2003)
  • Ben Procobis - Guitar (2003)
  • CJ McMahon - Bass (1997)
  • Sammo Matheson - Bass (1997)
RELEASES: 
 
  • Songs in the Key of Gumboot (2001) [as Midstream] - Download Here.
    • 1. Growing Up
    • 2. Elliot
    • 3. The Car Song
    • 4. Tasty
    • 5. 500 Miles
    • 6. Secret Track
SUMMARY: Double Standard was a punk band formed by a collective of Year 9 students at St Dom's High School and one of their brothers from McCarthy Senior School. The band moved through a few names (Putrid, Mechanical Beaver, OxyBong) before settling on Midstream. Shortly after forming, Stephen Willis joined as a second guitarist, and the band went on to play shows mainly in the Greater West, with their friend Floppy acting as manager. After about three years Midstream changed their name to Double Standard in December 2001 due to another band called 'Midstream' threatening legal action. Towards the end, the band swapped guitarists with Spudgun, and then called it a day.
 
SHOWS: 
ORAL HISTORY:
STEPHEN W.: I initially showed an interest in music at a young age thanks to my parents. They would always listen to cassettes on road trips - the Beatles, Queen, Crowded House, Skyhooks, etc. My personal musical journey started when I was gifted Silverchair's Frogstomp on cassette back in '95. That was the beginning of a lifelong love of music.
Stephen Willis, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
PETE: I always liked music, but it only really became a passion around the time Pat moved into our street. He showed me Silverchair's Frogstomp album and next thing I know I'm listening to Pantera, Deftones, Sublime. Pretty soon after that I decided to learn the drums as Pat was already a fledgling guitarist, and Pudd was a vocalist. We went through a few bassplayers in the beginning. CJ McMahon was our first bassist, then Sammo Matheson. Then Drew McNeil joined us on the bass and we settled on the name Midstream. Stephen Willis came in shortly after on 2nd guitar. 
Pete Venarie, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
STEVEN V.: The band started as a mix of boredom and dreams. Pete was already learning drums. Patrick decided to learn guitar and I had been singing since I was little. Drew got talked into getting a bass and a few months later we were making a racket in the garage thinking we were amazing. We were inspired by Blink 182, Goldfinger, MxPx, Rage Against the Machine.
Steven Venarie, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

PAT: Pete and his brother Steven lived two doors down from me. We grew up together all attending the same primary school. I'd been playing guitar on and off since I was 8, Pete had been taking drum lessons, and Steven was in the school choir so it made sense to start jamming at each other's house. I then met Drew at St Doms - we started hanging out in Year 8 after discovering we liked the same bands.
Patrick Morrissey, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

DREW: We all went to school together and were mates that bonded over our love for music. After that I think we all just wanted to play so the band kinda formed itself so we would have something to do on weekends.We started jamming in Pat's living room playing a mix of covers and originals, and getting multiple complaints from the neighbours.  
Amdrew McNeil, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
PAT: The St Dom's school disco was with the girls' school Caroline Chisholm. It was pretty fucking cool - sound was fucking terrible but everyone loved it and we all had a great time. Sam Matheson also made a guest appearance on bass as well as skanking around on stage.    
Patrick Morrissey, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

PETE:  Our first show was a school disco at St Dom's under the name OxyBong.We got shut down 'cause we played Rage Against the Machine and Limp Bizkit. 
Pete Venarie, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
STEVEN V: St Dom's school disco... we were getting yelled at by the Year 8 Year Coordinator as we eased into some 'Killing in the Name Of' and I made eye contact with him as I sang "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me". He ran down the back to the sound room to the turn the PA off, only to realise we'd brought our own PA and he had lost control of the hall. The look on his face was priceless. Needless to say, we were not invited back. In fact, we had sent most of the kids into a frenzy and weren't even allowed to do the agreed-upon second set that night. It didn'(t dawn on me 'til well after the school disco gig that the teacher who was yelling at us... well, he must've been a Rage Against the Machine fan. He knew the song. He knew the lyrics were going to come out of my mouth, he was yelling (mouthing, really, we couldn't hear him over our gear!) well before I started with the profanity. I sometimes wonder if he's retired now. Just cruising down a highway in the middle of nowhere, towing a caravan to some gray nomad caravan park, cranking the fuck out of Rage Against the Machine. 
Steven Venarie, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

PAT: Stephen joined us on second guitar after the St Dom's show. He gave us a bit more depth on lead guitar. It was early days so we were all still figuring out what we wanted to play. 
Patrick Morrissey, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024


STEPHEN W.: I wasn't in the band from the beginning. Pudd was the only person in the group that could really sing a tune well, so it made sense that he would be the front man. A few songs had already been written before I joined the band. Our songs were usually formed from a basic riff that a member would bring to a jam session and we would build it from there. 
Stephen Willis, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

PAT: Midstream was just a name we pulled out of our arse. We had a few names that originated from Pete's sketches, like Mechanical Beaver - cool sketch, shit name, but hey, we were like 13 or 14. 
Patrick Morrissey, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

PETE: Stephen and Pat would finger the chords on their own guitar while strumming the other's strings as a bit of showmanship. 
Pete Venarie, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
PAT: We had so much fun hanging out and playing together. We were lucky that all our parents were super supportive and let us jam at home until we moved to Symphonic Sound Studios with Farz. We were pretty innocent at the start, we would sometimes jam in Drew's house in South Penrith - he lived a couple hundred metres from Toys R Us and Burger King, so we'd skate over, get a feed, and skate around the Toys R Us loading dock, and then go back and jam again. The internet was only just becoming a thing at this time so we would go to school and print off bulk tabs for all our favourite songs and then play them together. We spent a shitload of time together and got along so well.  
Patrick Morrissey, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

STEVEN V: We would mostly just jam until something grabbed us... it was a mix of lots of laughs and paying for a rehearsal studio while we were outside smoking, haha.  
Steven Venarie, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

REVIEW: By 12:30, when Midstream took the stage, the crowd had grown to hold around sixty people. The guys from Midstream held a tight set and even managed to work up the first skank circle of two people. Small, but nevertheless an achievement. They made a point to remind the crowd at the end of their set, "We have a website!"
Review of Puddstock by Lisa Jenner, Obzine Issue 13, August 2000

DREW: A highlight for us was playing the Grounded Festival. We probably thought we were pretty hot stuff at that point, haha, but it was awesome. So good back then that we could have such a decently-sized festival in our home town that had bands from all over the country. We also played a lot of shows at the PCYC in Penrith with Spudgun, Save Some For Daddy, Unpaid Debt, Badanga, etc, and Forest Inn at Bexley, Kelts Bar in Blaxland, and Gearin Hotel in Katoomba. 
Amdrew McNeil, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

STEPHEN W.: Grounded will always be a fond memory of mine. We were all so stoked to be playing this festival in our home town in front of all our close friends, alongside some really good and talented local bands. We had an early afternoon slot on the local stage and had a decent crowd, which was nice. 
Stephen Willis, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

PETE: At some point, a band from South Australia also named Midstream approached us and told us to change our name. We settled on Double Standard.
Pete Venarie, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

Interview in Obzine Issue 25

FEATURE ARTICLE: "Our influences are No Use for a Name and Sublime, and sorta Jellybean", explains Pat as the rest of the guys agree with nods. Andrew adds Strung Out to the list. On stage the guys pull off this style of music well, in fact, Pud's vocals are so in tune for a local punk outfit that you can't not be impressed.
Interview conducted by Mark Alston, Obzine Issue 25, February 2002

STEPHEN W.: We played at the PCYC with the mighty Badanga. There were a lot of good vibes that evening. I felt like this show was one of the best performances we had as a band.
Stephen Willis, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

PETE: At Penrith PCYC the legendary Badanga played before us. It was towards the end of our time. We bought a bunch of granny undies and stained the crotch with tomato sauce, some with chocolate cookie dough, and threw them into the crowd. It got a pretty good reaction. It was a fun gig! 
Pete Venarie, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

STEVEN V: For the EP, I remember doing so many takes my voice was fucked by the end. It's a terrible EP but it's still a great memory. Pete did the artwork - he's actually an awesome artist. 
Steven Venarie, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

PAT: The CD was done pretty body. For what it was, it was good. It cost us 300 bucks. We recorded it live at the studio in May. We're recording again in January or February (2002), properly digital and all that. We have a few studios in mind, and Tim from Unpaid Debt. The new CD should be an improvement on the old, and our song about Penrith may make an appearance on it. That song is about them homie guys who walk around in their big booboo jackets and think they're good. They fight you 'cause they don't have a job.
Patrick Morrisey, Obzine Issue 25, February 2002

STEPHEN W.: I got approached by the Spudgun boys to join them and it seemed like the right choice for me creatively at the time, so I decided to leave Double Standard. 
Stephen Willis, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024


PAT: Ben joined the band and was a far better guitarist and probably better musician than any of us at the time. He helped develop our sound a little more to what we were all listening to at the time and by the end we had a completely different sound and I think were really happy with a few new songs which, unfortunately, we never recorded. I was using a gear a fair bit before then and we were hanging out a lot so he was definitely influencing me. 
Patrick Morrissey, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

PETE: Towards the end, Stephen left to join Spudgun and Ben from Spudgun joined us. The dynamic changed, and everyone's life was getting busier. It just kind of tapered off. I nearly gave up drums around 2005 but then Pat and I moved to Airlie Beach, met some musos, and started playing in cover bands up there. To this day I'm on stage most weekends performing 1 to 3 shows a week. It's nice to be still performing and making good money doing so. It's not Wembley Stadium but it's hell fun every weekend having a couple hundred people from all over the world dancing and drinking and having fun to the sound you're making. It's the drug you can't buy!
Pete Venarie, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

RELATED BANDS: Spudgun, September's Silence, The Fox, The Museum, The Mission in Motion, Gimp, Call the Medic Call the Nurse, Awaken I Am
at
Labels: , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)