Dropzone

ORIGINS: Northern Sydney, NSW

GENRE: Oi, Punk

YEARS ACTIVE: 1996-2001

 

MEMBERS:

• Adrian 'The General' McCabe - Vocals
• Luke Turner - Guitar (1996-1997, 2001), Bass (1997-2000)
  
• Adam 'Scallop' O'Sullivan - Guitar (1997-1998)
• Matt 'Stretch' - Drums (1997-1999)
  
• David 'Daffodil' - Drums (1996)
  
• Mitch 'Red' - Bass (1996)
• Little Ryan - Guitar (1998)
• Jam - Guitar (1998)
  
• Aaron 'Az' Cortilla - Drums (1999-2001)
  
• Lesleigh Kehlet - Bass (2001)
• Fran Toller - Guitar (2000-2001)
  

RELEASES: 

• Stand Your Ground (1997) - Download Here.
  
• 1. Speaking Minds
• 2. Tax is Theft
• 3. Aint It Fun
• 4. Fight Back
• 5. Youth and Punishment
• 6. Act Yourself
   

• Unite (1998)
• 1. Exploit
• 2. In God We Trust
• 3. Rip It Off
• 4. Balmain Folk Dance
• 5. Way to Go
• 6. Annoyance
• 7. Australia
• 8. Last Night
• 9. Mother Ireland
• 10. Aint It Fun
• 11. Natural Liquor
• 12. Unite
  

SUMMARY: Started by Adrian 'The General' McCabe after he parted ways with his previous project, The Last Hemeroids, the band Dropzone started to get some traction after the main lineup of Adrian, Adam, Luke, and Stretch came together in 1997. Recording two EPs and playing a bunch of shows through Sydney, Dropzone began to undergo some radical lineup changes starting with the departure of Adam O'Sullivan as he returned to his previous band, The Hassle Brigade. After these lineup shuffles, the band parted ways with vocalist Adrian, and remaining members Luke, Lesleigh, Aaron, and Fran then became The Hippycrits. 

 

SHOWS: 

• Pulling on the Boots, Iron Duke, Alexandria - 6th and 7th November, 1997
  
• Pulling on the Boots, Iron Duke, Alexandria - 31st July, 1998
• Punx Picnic, Sydney Park, St Peters - 1st July, 2000
• Iron Duke, Alexandria - 1st September, 2000
• Punx Picnic, Sydney Park, St Peters - 7th October, 2000
• St Peters Studios, St Peters - 17th November, 2000
  

ORAL HISTORY:

LUKE: Adrian and me became friends back in the Hornsby days in '95. He was singer for The Last Hemeroids and was booted so wanted to start a new oi, punk band. Adrian had a thing for nicknames - he would give everyone another name. Mitch was 'Red', David was 'Daffodil'. Anyway, the initial lineup last didn't last more than several jams at Adrian's place in Asquith. Daffodil pulled out after not long and we tried to keep going with Mitch for a while but then he joined another band. 

Luke Turner (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

LUKE: Adrian pulled together the real Dropzone in 1997 after we'd had a few fill-ins and inbetweeners. The first 'gig' we ever played was a house party in Wahroonga at the house of Ben from the yet-to-be-formed Give Christ Back to the Martians. It was heaps fun - we only had about 5 songs but it went down well at the time. The first proper gig was at the Iron Duke for the big 'Pullin' on the Boots' show and I think we had recorded a demo by then. The 'live' recording of Pullin' on the Boots had to be replaced with this demo due to technical difficulties (IE. Adrian kept stepping on and pulling out the mic lead, resulting in fuck-all vocals).

Luke Turner (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

ADAM: This girl who lived across the road from me was friends with Adrian. She got Adrian to call me and it turned out he needed a guitarist for his band Dropzone, so I joined. Adrian when I first met him had a mohawk, and all his friends were punk as fuck. At the time I had this shitty little mohawk which I shaved myself. I wore army trousers cut into shorts and Converse All Stars and I honestly thought I was the punkest bastard on Earth. I was indeed mistake - Adrian introduced me to all his mates; they all sported Doc boots, pants covered in patches that had political slogans written on them and the names of underground punk bands, and leather jackets covered in massive studs. It wasn't too long before I was running around in my own Doc boots. I bought a mate's old leather jacket and studded it up myself. It took me two days to hammer dozens upon dozens of studs into this leather jacket.

Adam O'Sullivan (Guitar), Unpublished interview, 2010

LUKE: Dropzone shows were mostly good times with some of the nicest and most genuine people but sometimes these shows could be a little terrifying. Like one time out at St Marys; Adrian stirred up some of the locals like he was prone to do! Next thing we have a bunch of redneck dicks wanting to punch on with us and even the bouncers weren't willing to help us out so we had to cut and run the fuck outta there. A bit scary when you're trying to haul all the gear out to a station wagon with a pub full of people wanting to kick your arses, including the people that are paid to 'protect' you.

Luke Turner (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

ADAM: Dropzone did some mad shows. We did the Punx Picnic, and used to play at the Green Square and Iron Duke quite a lot. We always had big crowds filled with punks and mad skinheads. 

Adam O'Sullivan (Guitar), Unpublished interview, 2010

 

 

LUKE: The General was a polarising character. He was one of the most generous, loving people who would help a mate out in a heart beat but he was always causing some kind of conflict with a lot of people who misunderstood his overly forward way of thinking and speaking.  

Luke Turner (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

ADAM: By 1998 I was still in Dropzone but I simply wasn't enjoying myself. I wanted to sing lead vocals rather than just play my guitar. I bumped into Aaron Baker and we got talking about how good it would be to have the Hassle Brigade back again, so I left Dropzone to reform The Hassle Brigade.

Adam O'Sullivan (Guitar), Unpublished interview, 2010

 

Mandi Keating, Skunk Column, Sydney Music Press, 20th October, 1998

 

LUKE: Adam was the first to leave from the main lineup. He was really struggling with drugs and alcohol and decided to leave the band so we took a break after playing one last show at the Green Square. I also think Adam knew we were never going to get to a place where he wanted as Adrian struggled to keep time, plus he had an unintentional habit of getting us in shit. We got banned from playing the Iron Duke because he would openly give the owner, Mark Urber, shit onstage while we played. I think Mark might have even pulled the power on us. We were also getting a lot of negative shit, getting labelled as racist 'cause Adrian was a staunch nationalist. I think Adam just wanted to get away from all that bullshit and we certainly weren't helping with his drinking. Honestly, I think it's hard keeping any band together, haha, but Adam was a great song writer... he wrote some awesome pop punk hooks in The Hassle Brigade.

Luke Turner (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

LESLEIGH: I ended up joining Dropzone after Turtle Slime finished. We did a Melbourne tour with Spilt Milk and it was awesome. So much alcohol, great gigs, and amazing people. Dropzone became Hippycrits after not long. We parted ways with Adrian due to musical differences... Hippycrits had a few songs that were originally Dropzone ones but we changed the lyrics. 

Lesleigh Kehlet (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

LUKE: Adrian brought in Lesleigh from Turtle Slime to play bass and I moved back to guitar. Matt (Stretch) was replaced by Aaron Cortilla on drums and Fran came in on guitar as well. I can't remember if we actually played any gigs with this lineup. Eventually the decision was made to kick Adrian out of the band he had formed, which must have been a proper kick in the nuts. At that point, Dropzone was dead 'cause, musically, the songs were written by Adrian and Adam. So we became the Hippycrits and that was it for Dropzone.

Luke Turner (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

RELATED BANDS: The Last Hemeroids, Concrete Diver, Animosity, The Hassle Brigade, The Hippycrits, The Picaros, Turtle Slime, Kevin, HYMG, Headbutt, Unstable, Sydney Guns, Manic Party, Stalin's Organ, Groin, The Dynamic Lifters