Milton

ORIGINS: Lower Blue Mountains, NSW

GENRE: Indie Rock, Britpop

YEARS ACTIVE: 1997-2001

 

MEMBERS:

• Aidan Roberts - Vocals, Guitar
  
• Liam Judson - Guitar
  
• Jon Hunter - Drums (1998), Bass (1998-2001)
  
• Nick Parkinson - Drums (1998-2000)
• Ivan Lisyak (2001)
  

RELEASES: 

• Demo (1997) [as The Avenue]

• Sit Back, Relax (2000) - Download Here.
  
• 1. The Sleaze Factor
• 2. Shaker
• 3. Dead Central
• 4. Night School
  

• Unnamed EP (2001) [unreleased]
• 1. Breaking the Law
• 2. Summer Song
• 3. Elevator Cradlesong
• 4. Over
  

SUMMARY: Starting as a two-man project called The Avenue by Roberts and Judson, this musical venture developed into a four-piece band called Milton by 1999. Milton released an EP in 2000 before breaking up/morphing into The Architects in 2001-2002, leaving their second EP unreleased.

 

SHOWS: 

• House Party, Sun Valley - unknown date, October, 1999
  
• Blaxland Gala Day, Blaxland - unknown date, October, 1999
  
• Zound, Warrimoo Citizens Hall, Warrimoo - 17th December, 1999 
• Blue Tongue Cafe, Glenbrook - 19th February, 2000
  
• Nepean Band Comp, Swamp Bar, UWS Kingswood - 11th May, 2000
• Kelts Bar, Blaxland - 25th May, 2000 
• Rodney, Blaxland Hall, Blaxland - 27th May, 2000
  
• Daily Planet, Penrith - 14th July, 2000
• Kelts Bar, Blaxland - 3rd August, 2000
  
• Channel Cafe, Penrith - 25th August, 2000
• Gearin Hotel, Katoomba - 1st September, 2000 
• Lewers Gallery, Emu Plains - 7th September, 2000
  
• Kelts Bar, Blaxland - 30th September, 2000
  
• Big Day Art, Lewers Gallery, Emu Plains - 7th October, 2000
• Daily Planet, Penrith - 20th October, 2000
• Britannia Hotel, Sydney - 22nd December, 2000
• Lansdowne, Sydney - unknown date, 2001
  

ORAL HISTORY:

AIDAN: Liam and I grew up together and always wanted to form a band. When we got our first 'proper' electric guitars in 1998 we decided that we were ready to finally put a band together. We'd been writing songs together since we were 11 so we wrote a bunch of songs together and got Jon and Nick in. Then we had a band!

Aidan Roberts (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

LIAM: Aidan and I had called ourselves The Avenue for a little while in the last year of high school and had made a pretty kooky album on a borrowed cassette 8-track. The album is really primitive, playing-wise mainly. The songs were trying to be Beatlesque... the sillier side of The Beatles (think Magical Mystery Tour). We were trying to get super crafty with production but truthfully, we could barely play our instruments at the time. Except Aidan's piano playing - that was pretty good. When we wanted to take things a little more seriously and find other band members, we renamed ourselves Milton, got some better instruments and I learnt quickly how to play guitar.

 Liam Judson (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

JON: I think I met Liam Judson through a fella named Ewan. Ewan, Ivan Lisyak, and I were in some earlier bands named Dye Green, and Treehouse. We were all interested in recording, Liam and I would both borrow the school's 8-track over the school holidays. I met Aidan at Liam's house while dropping the 8-track off for them to record The Avenue. Liam asked me to come play with him and Aidan and they'd been playing together since they were kids. From memory, Liam liked that I played a hollow body guitar and had seen me play solo at a school thing. We mostly practiced at Aidan's House in Mount Riverview and occasionally at Liam's house in East Blaxland. Once we practiced on Aidan's balcony but his neighbours weren't too impressed! To begin with we just used a sampler and played along to that. Nick joined on drums a bit later.

 Jon Hunter (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

AIDAN: We started playing shows almost immediately after we formed - just some local gigs at low key public hall events and stuff. Our first city show was early 1999 at the Lansdowne. 

Aidan Roberts (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

JON: Our first gig was at an afternoon party in a backyard in Sun Valley, a Martin Novosel party (he went on to do Purple Sneakers, a very popular indie club night at the Abercrombie Hotel in Chippendale). I think it might have been his 18th birthday party and for someone who would go on to run parties for a living it was a bit lame - a few sneaky beers in backpacks clinking. Which prompted us to improvise a song called 'There Goes the Boy with the Bag'. I played drums as it was before Nick joined the band, and I was not very good. I remember trying to smoke a cigarette and drum at the same time, which was completely dumb and thankfully never repeated.

 Jon Hunter (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

ARTICLE: In October 1998, Jon Hunter (ex-Kayzus guitarist) was recruited to play the drums at a party gig, by which time the band had taken on the name Milton after much head-scratching. The gig consisted of 6 songs, plus two improvised songs which described events which were currently taking place at that particular party. All the songs went down well, and several people clapped.

Obzine Issue 5, November 1999

 

 

NICK: I met the Milton guys when I played in a musical with them and my sister was dating the main singer. When I turned 18 we started doing some proper shows. I played in Milton for maybe about a year.  

 Nick Parkinson (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

AIDAN: We were into anything and everything, we were so young and just digesting everything from The Beatles to The Smiths; Pulp, Blue, Suede, Marvin Gaye, Carole King, early U2, and lots of indie Aussie bands that we really idolised - Knievel probably being the strongest inspiration. Even though you wouldn't hear it in the funky melodics of Milton. 

Aidan Roberts (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

LIAM: We played a show at Warrimoo Hall very early on... could have been our first show. Other shows I remember are Kelts Bar supporting Even, Iron Duke with Transtar, and a bunch of odds and sods Blue Mountains shows.

 Liam Judson (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

REVIEW: This was my first Milton experience and I was delighted to hear a band with some classic-sounding guitars, pop riffs, and three-part harmonies. The hall felt like it let out a sigh of relief as this pop group showed off their unmatchable talent. The four local boys were obviously having a great deal of fun on stage and all the guitar swapping, string snapping, and bleeding didn't put them off even slightly.

Review of Zound (17/12/99), Mark Alston, Obzine Issue 7, January 2000

 

JON: We did one gig in Katoomba at the Civic Centre, which was fun. I wore a newly screenprinted 'SLUT' shirt. The show at Warrimoo Hall is possibly the only time I ever played in my home town. It was with Spudgun and Unpaid Debt, that one stands out as I became friends with Simo in my late 20s and it took years before I realised Simo was in Spudgun. 

Jon Hunter (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

LIAM: We recorded an EP but it wasn't released properly. We had no label or anything like that, we just sold it at gigs. It was recorded over two long days and mixed in a night at one of the studios at Western Sydney University by a chap called Robin Janus. We were reasonably happy with it at the time although we were fully aware it fell short of Suede or Pulp.

 Liam Judson (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

REVIEW: If you like to groove, then this will do it for you. 'Sit Back, Relax...' is a four track powerhouse of feeling and will never leave your bored, only wanting more... A highly commendable effort on the recording, which was produced by local guru Robin Janis.

Review of 'Sit Back, Relax', Roy Van-Fonz, Obzine Issue 10, May 2000

 

 

REVIEW: Milton took the stage and played a nice long set filled with all our faves like 'Dead Central' and 'Shaker'. It was the first of two gigs in one week for them, and they showed a lot of energy on this night. A great mix complimented the three-part harmonies and the set went down a treat.

Review of Blaxland Tavern show (25/5/00), Obzine Issue 11, June 2000

 

AIDAN: One of our most memorable gigs was the first time we ever got a gig in the city. It was at the Lansdowne Hotel on a hot Saturday night. Free gig in the front bar. There was a great crowd and we suddenly felt like we'd 'made it', in the sense that we'd played to strangers in the big city and they seemed to dig it. It was so encouraging. I remember driving home on the M4 just buzzing. 

 Aidan Roberts (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

REVIEW: Opening band for the night were Milton, who have a strikingly original and, usually in defiance of the term 'strikingly original', easy-to-listen-to style. They seemed to be taking elements from '70s/'80s progressive rock and mixing it in with Britpop, American Indie (along the lines of Pavement and Weezer) and good old alternative-pop. One thing I noticed about Milton is that they had no set bass player or guitarists, just three frontmen who all sung and swapped their axes around. This made for a greater variety in the sound of the songs, and the set flowed in spite of the constant movement of instruments. Even when a string snapped on one guitar while the strap kept falling off another, they still soldiered on. Towards the end of Milton's set two chicks dressed in black came out dancing (managing to cause a few people to actually leave the room) and proceeded to heckle the band (who got in a few heckles back). Standout tracks of the set were the catchy 'Breaking the Law' and the excellent 'Elevator Cradle Song', as well as their last song, 'Breakers', allegedly about the dodgy Aussie TV show of the same name.

Review of Daily Planet show (27/5/00), Luke Bartolo, Obzine Issue 12, July 2000

REVIEW: This local band called Milton loads their stuff on. They start playing a very cool set of groovy, jazzy songs that get my attention straight away. With brilliant songs and three-part harmonies, the band was in fine form. I'm sitting there really enjoying songs like 'Embassy', 'Dead Central', and 'Breaking the Law', and suddenly they finish - after only twenty minutes! I think they deserve a bit more than that.

Review of Kelts Bar show (3/8/00), David Schleter, Obzine Issue 14, September 2000

REVIEW: Milton came on with replacement drummer Ivan (Hassle Brigade). One rehearsal and he already had it down pat. Milton sweated out pure rock.

Review of Brittania Show (22/12/00), Obzine Issue 18, February 2001

LIAM: We recorded a second EP later on but by the time we finished it we were history. We'd fussed around with it for ages until we were so bored and confused.

 Liam Judson (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

 

JON: We recorded the second EP ourselves at Liam's sharehouse in Springwood. We were really obsessing over recording and buying gear. Liam bought a four-input sound card and I bought small Behringer mixers so between us we could record a set of drums reasonably. On one song, 'Breaking the Law', I made Liam run around the block a couple of times and then come straight to the microphone to record the vocals so that it sounded a bit more urgent, panicked, like you're running from the cops or security... not that we were ever the kind of people to get messed up with the law. I think the influence of hip-hop and the kind of people who were getting messed up with the law weren't far away though, so they'd often be the subject of conversation. While the band was centred around our attempt to make Britpop, we were also all massive fans of hip-hop. Liam's older brother had an Akai s2000 sampler which we would use to sample beats and strings and stuff. This EP also had a version of 'Night School' from the first EP that had a sampled hip-hop beat.

 Jon Hunter (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

ARTICLE: Milton? Haven't heard that name for a while. Well, you will be hearing it again shortly but only for a limited time. Milton are releasing a new EP to mark the end of an era. The band have two new members, a new style and, well... a new name, if they can ever decide on one. Last heard the band was to be called The Stanmores.

Obzine Issue 22, September, 2001

LIAM: Milton finished up because we wanted a slight stylistic change and to stat afresh with no Milton-related hang ups. I think we were getting a little embarrassed about the Milton songs so we changed drummers, took on an analog synth player, and became The Architects. The idea was to be more serious and 'darker' and yet these days I'm more embarrassed about the music of The Architects than I am of Milton. Our last Milton show was at The Lansdowne. Ordinary show - no drummer, pretty dismal.

 Liam Judson (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

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