Peabody

ORIGINS: Campsie, NSW

GENRE: Indie, Punk

YEARS ACTIVE: 1994-Current

 

MEMBERS:

• Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar)
• Ben Chamie (Bass, Backing Vocals)
• Tristan Courtney-Prior (Guitar) [2008-current]
  
• Jared Harrison (Drums) [2008-Current]
  
• Graeme Trewin (Drums) [1999-2006]
  
• Dave Bembrick (Drums) [1999]
  
• Garry Butler (Drums) [1994-1999]
  
• Jason Yeo (Drums) [1994]
  

RELEASES: 

 

• Demo (1995)
• 1. Self Indulgent
• 2. Unknown
• 3. Lush  

• Demo (1996)
• 1. Take
• 2. Petulant Dwarf
• 3. Hard to Find

• The Leo Sessions (1996)

• Hi-Cycle (1997)
• 1. Kaptain Kruss
• 2. Shitty Shitty Bang Bang
• 3. New Day
• 4. Smallman
• 5. Visiting Hours
• 6. Petulant Dwarf
  

• Rock, Girls & Computers (2000)
• 1. Speechless
• 2. Swing Lo-Crossover Show
• 3. Personify My Computer
• 4. The City of Rome
• 5. Freak Magnet 
  

• Professional Againster (2002) - Download Here.
• 1. The Mood Has Passed
• 2. Rockwell
• 3. Days and Nights
• 4. She's Heading Unto Zion
• 5. A Resurrected Man
• 6. Flight 101
• 7. Stupid Boy
• 8. Butterflies and Clowns
• 9. Do You Wanna
• 10. The Greatest Compilation of All Time

• Stupid Boy (2003)
• 1. Stupid Boy
• 2. You Are Her Only Friend
• 3. Phonetag
• 4. I Could Sell to You
• 5. My Pal

 

• Got You On My Radar (2004) 
• 1. Got You On My Radar
• 2. Killing Ira
• 3. Copy You, Copy Me
• 4. Oh Cyrano

• The New Violence (2005)
• 1. Synaesthesia
• 2. The Weight Just Right
• 3. Got You On My Radar
• 4. The New Violence
• 5. Song For Val
• 6. I Find the Words
• 7. Wrecking Ball
• 8. Au Expose
• 9. I Don't Know
• 10. Don't Lose It
• 11. Got Your Hooks In

• The Devil for Sympathy (2007) 
• 1. The Devil For Sympathy
• 2. Buzzard Vs Ibis
• 3. The Fine Line
• 4. The New Violence (live)
• 5. All Will Be Gone

• Prospero (2008)
• 1. Egon
• 2. Big Sur
• 3. The Devil for Sympathy
• 4. Buzzard Vs Ibis
• 5. If the Accident Will
• 6. Where Are You Coming From?
• 7. Something to Someone
• 8. Closing In On You
• 9. The Only Way I Know
• 10. Sweet Oblivion  

• Loose Manifesto (2010) 
• 1. The Empty Road
• 2. Black Narcissus
• 3. Dead Head
• 4. No New Riffs
• 5. Choking
• 6. Mirror Mirror
• 7. Take It From Me
• 8. I've Been Waiting
• 9. Already Won
• 10. Loose Manifesto
• 11. It Can't Be Done
• 12. It Don't Matter

• A Redder Shade of Rust (2018)
• 1. You're With Me
• 2. Julie
• 3. Keep On Acting
• 4. My Heart
• 5. Too Many Days
• 6. Perfectly Fine
• 7. Gemini
• 8. All the Bad Girls
• 9. Prosthetic Heart
• 10. Sometimes
  

• Compilation-Only Tracks and Other
• Living in the Wild Wild West (1996) - on Bust A Move '96 (Half-Arsed Records)
• Hershey (1996) - on Grow Your Own 2 (Foghorn Records) 
• Janet (1996) - on Aristotle's Box (Aristotle's Box)
  
• Spectator (1998) - on True Grit (Antfarm Records)
• All the Bad Girls (2011, different version from one 2018 album) - from split with MachineMachine 

SUMMARY: Starting in high school under the name 'Vermin' (amongst other names), Peabody began as a punk-ish band but developed over time into something more akin to indie rock. Relentlessly touring the east coast and playing in Sydney, as well as tying themselves into the fabric of Sydney's music scene via community radio and sharehousing with members of other hardworking bands of the era, Peabody became a well-known name within this milieu by the end of the '90s. 

 

The band blew up with some Triple J airplay in the early '00s with the release of their albums Professional Againster and The New Violence. In 2006, long-term drummer Graeme Trewin left after an eight-year stint. In 2008, Peabody became a four-piece with the addition of a new drummer and an additional guitarist. The band went on hiatus around 2011-2012 and later returned with the album 'A Redder Shade of Rust' in 2018.

 

SHOWS: 

 

1990s

• Fitz Cafe, St Ives - 5th August, 1994 (as 'Vermin')
• Waterloo Tavern, Sydney - 22nd September, 1996
  
• Youth Arts Festival, Kingsford-Smith Park, Katoomba - 21st December, 1996 [May not have played]
• Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 24th January, 1997 
• Feedback, Newtown - 26th April, 1997
• Feedback, Newtown - 29th June, 1997
  
• Feedback, Newtown - 30th October, 1997 
• Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 25th January, 1998
  
• Blackheath Community Centre, Blackheath - 13th June, 1998
• Feedback, Newtown - 27th September, 1998 
• Green Square Hotel, Zetland - 30th July, 1999

2000-2004

• Hopetoun Hotel, Surry Hills - 11th March, 2000 
• Harbour Cruise, Sydney - 18th September, 2000
• Hopetoun Hotel, Surry Hllls - 11th November, 2000 
• The Esplanade Hotel, Melbourne - 30th November, 2000
• Corner Hotel, Melbourne - 19th August, 2001 (VIC)
  
• Hopetoun Hotel, Surry Hills - 23rd November, 2001 
• Kelts Bar, Blaxland - 29th November, 2001
• The Healer, Brisbane - 16th June, 2001
  
• Metro Theatre, Sydney - 19th July, 2002 
• Hopetoun Hotel, Surry Hills - 5th October, 2002
• Newtown Festival, Newtown - 10th November, 2002
  
• Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 15th November, 2002
  
• Music House, Adelaide - 21st November, 2002 (SA)
  
• Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 17th January, 2003 
• Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 8th February, 2003
  
• The National Hotel, Geelong - 27th February, 2003 (VIC)
  
• The Esplanade Hotel, Melbourne - 28th February, 2003 (VIC)
  
• The Empress Hotel, Melbourne - 1st March, 2003 (VIC)
  
• Kelts Bar, Blaxland - 6th March, 2003
• Hopetoun Hotel, Surry Hills - 7th March, 2003
• Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle - 8th March, 2003
  
• Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay - 13th March, 2003
  
• The Alley, Brisbane - 14th March, 2003 (QLD)
  
• Sands Tavern, Maroochydore - 15th March, 2003 (QLD)
• Kelts Bar, Blaxland - 14th August, 2003
  
• Sands Tavern, Maroochydore - 22nd August (QLD)
  
• Waterloo Hotel, Brisbane - 23rd August, 2003 (QLD)
  
• The Troccadero, Gold Coast - 24th August, 2003 (QLD) 

• Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay - 27th August, 2003
  
• Harbord Diggers Club, Sydney - 29th August, 2003
  
• Spanish Club, Sydney - 30th August, 2003
  
• Northern Star Hotel, Newcastle - 3rd September, 2003
  
• The Green Room, Canberra - 4th September, 2003 (ACT)
  
• Barwon Club Hotel, Geelong - 5th September, 2003 (VIC)
  
• Evelyn Hotel, Melbourne - 6th September, 2003 (VIC)
  
• Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 13th September, 2003
• Livid Festival, Moore Park, Sydney - 11th October, 2003
• Homebake, The Domain, Sydney - 6th December, 2003
  
• Hopetoun Hotel, Surry Hills - 22nd December, 2003 
• Big Day Out, Sydney Showground, Sydney - 24th January, 2004
• Evan Theatre, Panthers Leagues Club, Penrith - 8th April, 2004
  
• Revesby Workers Club, Revesby - 9th April, 2004
  
• C.ex Coffs, Coffs Harbour - 10th April, 2004
  
• Yamba Golf and Country Club, Yamba - 11th April, 2004
• Mary Gilhooley's Irish Pub, Lismore - 13th April, 2004
  
• Hopetoun Hotel, Surry Hills - 23rd April, 2004
  
• Hellenic Club, Canberra - 19th May, 2004 (ACT)
  
• Heaven, Adelaide - 21st May, 2004 (SA)
  
• Westlands Hotel, Whyalla - 22nd May, 2004 (SA)
  
• Shadows Entertainment Complex, Mount Gambier - 24th May, 2004 (SA)
  
• The Palace Complex, Melbourne - 27th May, 2004 (VIC)
  
• The Inferno, Traralgon - 29th May, 2004 (VIC)
• Brass Monkey, Melbourne - 30th May, 2004 (VIC)
  
• Sharks Leagues Club, Cronulla - 10th June, 2004
  
• Selina's, Coogee Bay - 11th June, 2004
  
• Caringbah Bizzos, Caringbah - 24th October, 2004
  
• The Green Room, Canberra - 28th October, 2004 (ACT)
  
• Annandale Hotel, Sydney - 29th October, 2004
  
• Oxford Tavern, Wollongong - 30th October, 2004 
• Hopetoun Hotel, Surry Hills - 3rd November, 2004
• Gainery Lane Theatre, Ballarat - 4th November, 2004
  
• Pony Bar, Melbourne - 5th November, 2004 (VIC)
  
• Duke of Windsor Hotel, Melbourne - 6th November, 2004 (VIC)
  
• Jive, Adelaide - 12th November, 2004 (SA)
  
• Newtown Festival, Camperdown Memorial Park, Newtown - 14th November, 2004
• Plantation Hotel, Coffs Harbour - 17th November, 2004
  
• Northern Star Hotel, Newcastle - 19th November, 2004
  
• The Troubadour, Brisbane - 20th November, 2004 (QLD)
  
• Foundry, Perth - 24th November, 2004 (WA)
  
• Prince of Wales Hotel, Bunbury - 25th November, 2004 (WA)
  
• Rosemount Hotel, Perth - 26th November, 2004 (WA)
  
• Settlers Tavern, Margaret River - 27th November, 2004 (WA)
  
• Newport Hotel, Fremantle - 28th November, 2004 (WA) 

2005-2010

• Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 26th February, 2005
  
• The Esplanade Hotel, Melbourne - 4th March, 2005 (VIC)
• Northcote Social Club, Melbourne - 5th March, 2005 (VIC)
  
• Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay - 10th March, 2005
  
• The Rev, Brisbane - 11th March, 2005
  
• Excelsior Hotel, Sydney - 17th March, 2005
  
• Come Together, Luna Park, Sydney - 23rd April, 2005
  
• Enmore Theatre, Enmore - 27th August, 2005
  
• Forum Theatre, Melbourne - 3rd September, 2005 (VIC)
  
• Come Together, Luna Park, Sydney - 10th September, 2005
  
• The Troubadour, Brisbane - 17th September, 2005 (QLD)
  
• Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay - 18th September, 2005 
  
• University of Tasmania, Launceston - 22nd September, 2005 (TAS)
• University of Tasmania, Hobart - 23rd September, 2005 (TAS)
  
• Republic Bar and Cafe, Hobart - 24th September, 2005 (TAS)
  
• Foundry, Perth - 28th September, 2005 (WA)
  
• Prince of Wales Hotel, Bunbury - 29th September, 2005 (WA)
• 3 Bears Bar, Dunsborough - 30th September, 2005 (WA)
• Amplifier Capitol, Perth - 1st October, 2005 (WA)
  
• Mojo's Bar, Fremantle - 2nd October, 2005 (WA)
  
• Newcastle Leagues Club, Newcastle - 7th October, 2005
  
• Caringbah Bizzos, Caringbah - 8th October, 2005
  
• Big Day Out, Sydney Showground, Sydney - 26th January, 2006 
  
• Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 3rd October, 2006
• Hopetoun Hotel, Surry Hills - 24th February, 2007
  
• Beach Road Hotel, Sydney - 3rd June, 2007
  
• Hopetoun Hotel, Surry Hills - 10th June, 2007
  
• Hopetoun Hotel, Surry Hills - 17th June, 2007
  
• Hopetoun Hotel, Surry Hills - 24th June, 2007
  
• Bigsound, The Step Inn, Brisbane - 3rd October, 2007 (QLD)
  
• Spectrum, Sydney - 6th October, 2007
• Surry Hills Festival, Prince Alfred Park, Sydney - 13th October, 2007
  
• Newtown Festival, Camperdown Memorial Park, Newtown - 11th November, 2007
  
• Hopetoun Hotel, Surry Hills - 1st December, 2007
  
• Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 26th January, 2008
  
• Sandringham Hotel, Newtown - 14th March, 2008
  
• Playground Weekender, Del Rio Riverside Resort, Wisemans Ferry - 7th February, 2009 (SA)
• Excelsior Hotel, Sydney - 15th March, 2009
  
• Hopetoun Hotel, Surry Hills - 23rd October, 2009
  
• Spectrum, Sydney - 5th February, 2010
  
• Sandringham Hotel, Newtown - 27th March, 2010
  
• Red Eye Records, Sydney - 3rd October, 2010
  
• Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 5th November, 2010 

2011-Current

• Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 16th July, 2011
  
• 34B Burlesque, Sydney - 28th January, 2011
• Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 16th July, 2011
  
• Rose of Australia Hotel, Sydney - 7th October, 2011
  
• Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney - 12th November, 2011
  
• Town Hall Hotel, Sydney - 17th December, 2011
  
• Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham - 21st December, 2013
  
• Imperial Hotel, Sydney - 13th June, 2014 
• Newtown Festival, Camperdown Memorial Park, Newtown - 12th November, 2017
• Lazybones, Marrickville - 29th June, 2018
• Lansdowne, Sydney - 12th October, 2018
• Coogee Diggers Club, Coogee Bay - 16th November, 2018
• Union Hotel, Newtown - 15th December, 2018
• Marrickville Bowlo, Marrickville - 26th April, 2019
• Grand Junkyard, Maitland - 17th May, 2019
• Link and Pin, Woy Woy - 18th February, 2022
  
• The Great Club, Sydney - 19th February, 2022 
• Golden Barley Hotel, Enmore - 15th May, 2022
• Leichardt Bowling Club, Leichardt - 22nd October, 2022 
• Golden Barley Hotel, Enmore - 15th December, 2023
• Golden Barley Hotel, Enmore - 5th October, 2024
  

ORAL HISTORY:

BEN: When I was a kid, in the '80s, I only ever heard music through the mainstream media, which I fucking loathed. When I came-of-age in the '90s and could see bands with these dirty-as-fuck guitars that were the opposite of '80s schlock, it was like a musical tequila shot.

Ben Chamie (Bass), Rolling Stone Magazine, 2005 

 

BEN: I got interested in music in high school, through my own trawling through the FM radio dial. But then through swapping tapes and CDs, I got interested in playing music again with school friends. A few people I knew played guitar and I tagged along to some free lessons that a teacher ran at high school one morning each week. It all grew from there. I started playing in a band that was a precursor to Peabody with my school friend Bruno Brayovic in the last year of high school and then for another year or so after that. Bruno had previously played in a band called Kiss My Art with Jason Yeo... when that broke up I joined with Bruno and Jason and we played at our high school talent quest. We also played a band comp at the Bowlo that used to be in Victoria Park on City Road, Camperdown. At that Bowlo gig we were called Vermin. We were a dirty punk band at that point!

Ben Chamie (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

BRUNO: Ben and I were in the same year at school and started playing in bands together for school events, etc. Our friend Jason was our drummer but once we left school and wanted to play in pubs, Jason wasn't that interested. We played at some new band night at UWS in Milperra where Ben went to uni. I can't remember what name we used for the band that night. Anyway, Jason left soon after so he put us in touch with his sister's ex-boyfriend Garry, who was a bit older than us and had been playing in bands for years.Garry's first gig with us was at the Lewisham Hotel under the name Vermin. We played a second gig as Vermin at the Bowlo in Victoria Park. That gig was awful so we changed our name to Peabody. The first Peabody gig was at the Forest Inn in Bexley, in late ;94.

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

BEN: 'Peabody' was the name of a friend's cat. I think they named their cat after the cartoon character Mr Peabody from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Quirky one-word names were in vogue at the time and it seemed to suit our jerky pop music.

Ben Chamie (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

As 'Vermin', 1994

 

BEN: Our first show as Peabody was in the back room of the Lewisham Hotel on Parramatta Rd, or it could have been at Club Mac, which was the bar at the Uni of Western Sydney (Milperra campus), where I was going at the time.

Ben Chamie (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

BRUNO: When we first started people would talk to us about The Jam all the time and say how much we sound like The Jam and look like them. I kid you not - I had never heard of The Jam. Then when I saw some footage I thought, "Fuck, no wonder - they wear suits and play Rickenbackers". It was a third-hand influence. When we first started out we liked bands like You Am I, Nirvana, and The Lemonheads and all that stuff when we were a bit younger, and indirectly stuff like The Jam and The Clash comes across in bands that you end up liking.

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), OzMusic Project, 2002

 

BEN: We recorded a few demos at Zen recording studio. We sold them at gigs and sent them to venue bookers, etc. 

Ben Chamie (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

Review of first demo, Heard, 1995

 

Review of second demo, Heard, 1996

 

BRUNO: We wore suits for the first time at a show at the Sandringham Hotel in '97, just as a bit of a laugh. We kept it going for a couple of years after that, as well as variations of the suits. I think it just came from the notion of a band being our job and needing a uniform. Run DMC had Adidas tracksuits, Ramones had leather jackets and skinny jeans, etc. What we didn't know, 'cause we were young and ignorant, was that The Jam had already done that in the late '70s and early '80s. Not only that, Ben and I both played Rickenbacker guitars just like The Jam. We constantly got compared to them but no one ever said, "It's partly 'cause you dress the same and use the same guitars as them". We'd never even heard of The Jam. Needless to say, both Ben and I are massive fans of them now. I once supported a couple of The Jam members under my solo act, Buddy Glass. We stopped wearing the suits around '99 or '00.

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

   

BEN: We got some money together and did our first proper recording, an EP called Hi-cycle, which was released on our friend's Aristotle's Box label. Our style changed from being punkier on the early demos, where we wore our influences on our sleeves, to a fuller rock sound (albeit built on those punk influences). We got better at playing our instruments and I contributed to the songwriting on two tracks on the Hi-cycle EP, where Bruno wrote all the songs on the early demos.

Ben Chamie (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

NOTES: We're a three piece band... For the past year Peabody have been sailing the tumultous seas of the Sydney music scene with some degree of success, rearing our ugly heads on three compilation CDs, of which Aristotle's Box is definitely the best. Our aim is to play as many gigs as possible to as many people are possible before our solo careers take off. The song on Aristotle's Box (Aristotle's Box label compilation), 'Janet', may or may not be about 'Doc Neeson' from the Angels. 

Band notes on Aristotle's Box, 1999

 

BRUNO: Aristotle's Box was Craig New's brainchild - I think he ran it with someone named Shannon. We weren't exactly 'on' that label but they put out a great compilation with local bands and we were on with a song I wrote about Tim Rogers called 'Janet'. We saw You Am I play a secret show at the Annandale and I gave Tim a copy of the compilation and they used our song as their walk-out music that night. Fuck that was exciting.

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

NOTES: Back in the '70s a lot of punk was merely twisted pop music (something that is sometimes forgotten today) and this is what Peabody are. I have seen them live many times and heard them on two compilations. The first was a cover of the '80s song 'Wild Wild West' and the other is their own song, 'Janet', which appears on a compilation, Aristotle's Box, showcasing Sydney's independent scene. They are brilliant on both these releases but seeing them live is always an entirely different experience. They are one of the most fun bands you will ever see. They really have a lot of fun up on stage and so does every member of the audience when they grace it with their presence. 

Paul Mernagh, Censored Thought website, 1999

 

BRUNO: Dave joined on drums sometime early in 1999 but only lasted a few months. We probably played 5 gigs with Dave. Graeme's first jam with us after this was the afternoon of the 1999 NRL grand final between the Storm and Saints.

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

 

GRAEME: Peabody changed my life. It was the dream come true without, at the time, knowing that it had done just that. I got to experience a kinship with two people who became my musical brothers. It was exciting! I knew we had something and I was proud to be a part of that something. We worked hard and took it very seriously, all the while understanding and finding hilarity in the madness of it. Over time, opportunities and good gigs came. 

Graeme Trewin (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

 

 

REVIEW: There's never a dull moment, really, during Peabody's shows. They are elementary a pop band but they sure know how to rock... Newish drummer Graeme was playing like his life depended on it! But what really keeps their show together is the simple fact that they have great songs. 

Review of Hopetoun show by Bryan, OzMusic Project, 2000

 

REVIEW: Fresh from some interstate shows, Peabody took to the Hoey stage and blasted their way through the set leaving mic stands and startled audience members in their wake... Peabody showed why they are becoming known as one of the best live bands in Sydney. Their set sweeps by in a whirlwind of sweat, melodies and harmonies. Bruno's passion for performing is addictive. From his athletic leaps and bounds to his attempts to squeeze every last drop of feedback out of his amp, the audience couldn't help but be seduced by his energy and charisma.

Review of Hopetoun show by Cam, OzMusic Project, 2000

 

BEN: When we started in the mid '90s there were quite a few venues around Sydney. Some in the 'burbs. We played at lots of suburban venues such as the Forest Inn in Bexley and The Swim Two Birds in Five Dock. We also played at some daggy inner city venues like Waterloo Tavern and Green Square Hotel before we broke into the cooler inner city venues like the Sando and Annandale.

Ben Chamie (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

REVIEW: Peabody try to grab your attention with big, angular guitar riffs and endearingly skewed hooks delivered with a good deal of force. Tonight the band displayed great energy, with Graeme's frenzied drumming and Bruno's vigorous stage antics and football-chant style vocal delivery giving songs like 'Personify My Computer' and 'Speechless' a raw edge. With the band playing with such gusto, the songs became infectious, urging you to bounce, nod your head or tap your feet along... In other hands such punked-up pop often comes across as dreary pastiche, but tonight Peabody played with conviction and a commitment to delivering big riffs, good times and a beat you could jump around to, which certainly pleased the crowd. 

Review of Hopetoun show by Tim, OzMusic Project, 2001

 

 

REVIEW: Sydney trio Peabody blasted through a forty-minute set of energetic beat-rock. Imagine The Jam, You Am I and Archers of Loaf all mixed up in a blender, drop in a pinch of rock and half a cup of pop and you pretty much have these guys summed up.

 Review of Adelaide show by Sean, OzMusic Project, 2002

 

BRUNO: Ben and I lived in a sharehouse back then where everyone who lived there was in bands. It didn't happen in any specific way - just people meeting people and getting along, etc. I was also heavily involved in community radio at that time (Ski Row, 2SER, FBI) so I was meeting a lot of people that way. I'd started doing Wednesday breakfast on Skid Row and then I did the same at 2SER for a while. I was with FBI radio throughout all of their test broadcasts and I was on the board of directors for a few years, including when the licence was granted. I then started the Australian music guitar show called 'Streets of Your Town'. After that I moved back to 2SER and started a similar show called 'The Band Next Door', which still runs with the same name to this day! I also did a sports segment on Monday breakfast on Triple J at the time that Jason (Frenzal Rhomb), Lindsey (Frenzal Rhomb), and Myf Walhurst were hosting. I knew Myf 'cause I toured Spain with her brother Kit (Rocket Science) when we were both briefly in the band The City Lights. Peabody also toured quite a bit with Rocket Science. So between all that shit and drinking at pubs 'till 5am, I met a lot of people!

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

 

NOTES: After their emergence on the Sydney scene around 7 years ago, Peabody would be classed by many as one of Sydney's hardest working bands, playing 100s, maybe even 1000s of shows in Sydney and touring up and down the coast since the release of their first EP in 1997. 

Semone, OzMusic Project, 2001

 

REVIEW: Rock, Girls and Computers is a delectable mix of fine quality pop that has been literally years in the works. The fine dressed boys of Sydney quirky pop shine through this release from the casette opener of 'Speechless' to the geeky charm of 'Personify My Computer', enhanced by the lovely Lauren Freedman on backup vocals. It has that nice upbeat quasi-60s pop charm with the Peabody quick tempo added to it... It's their diversity and witty talent that have gained Peabody such a following in the Sydney scene and it certainly is a relief from all those crappy alternative bands out there at the moment.

Review by Jaz of Rocks, Girls and Computers, OzMusic Project, 2000

 

 

BRUNO: Non Zero was the label who did our first three albums. They were more of a proper label in the sense that they employed a publicist and had distribution. The main person behind Non Zero was Nick Carr - a great man, friend, and philanthropist of the music scene. He made a tonne of money in software and wanted to give something back. He originally started Non Zero with Sarah Longhurst who used to manage to Pollyanna and had been a booker/manager for a long time. But she pulled out for personal reasons pretty much straight away. We'd met Nick at gigs and he became a fan. Bluebottle Kiss were already on Non Zero and it was Nick who suggested we work with Jamie Hutchings as producer - he ended up producing albums 1-3 and 5.

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

REVIEW: Peabody intoxicate their audience with enough energy and charisma to rival the Datsuns. Only a three piece, they make more noise than a low-flying Boeing 747, rendering my earplugs useless but, fuck it, there is no worthier band to lose my hearing to... I'm kicking myself for never seeing Peabody befofre and am seriously wondering why they are not gracing the pages of NME as one of the Oz rock bands to watch put for because no band deserves it more. 

Review of Annandale show by Carly, OzMusic Project, 2003

 

Lyrics to 'Do You Wanna', c. 2001

 

BRUNO: Our publishing was owned by Ivy League Music (which was then a subsidiary of Mushroom Music - the publishing arm, not the label or distribution - so they own the rights to 'exploit' your music in various ways). This led to Peabody music featuring on Home and Away. Pretty much everything on Home and Away came from Ivy League and Mushroom Publishing. So it was stuff like Red Sun Band, Rocket Science, Screamfeeder, and Peabody. We had songs on it all the time. There were also scenes with teenagers wearing Peabody T-shirts and with Peabody posters on their walls. It was pretty hilarious. 

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

 

BRUNO: The first meeting we had with Jamie Hutchings (Bluebottle Kiss) about him producing the album, he'd already heard some of our demos, and the first thing he said to us was, "I think your songs are great, but sometimes I think they can make two great songs," meaning they were too long. I thought that was pretty funny. We thought, "What the fuck were we thinking - that's crazy!" There were time changes and key changes and all kinds of strange shit. It wasn't really needed for what we were trying to convey. So while recording Professional Againster Jamie was the one that kinda went, "Why don't you maybe do this four times rather than eight?" The horns were his idea too. He just said, "I can really hear horns in this bit"... and it ended up sounding pretty good. Horns in an album can really fuck it up, I reckon, but we didn't use them too much and we don't sound like Area 7.

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), OzMusic Project, 2002

 

 

Review of Professional Againster by Daniel, OzMusicProject, 2002

 

BEN: 'Rockwell' was the first single off our debut album, Professional Againster. Bruno wrote that one. It got added to rotation on Triple J and was the beginning of a really good period for the band. I think that song and the album it was taken from were the culmination of years of playing live, writing, rehearsing the songs and then working with Jamie Hutchings as producer. If we started in 1994-95 then that song came out in 2002 - 7 or 8 years later. So, 'levelling up' might be a good way to described it.

Ben Chamie (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

BRUNO: 'Rockwell' was our first single off Professional Againster and it was pretty bloody exciting. Weirdly though, we weren't totally surprised by its success, we'd knew we'd made a good, strong album and our publicist at the time (or rather, the publicist Non Zero employed), Anouk Van Meeuwen, was a total gun and she was confident that we'd get some airplay on Triple J. It also got picked up by Triple M for some night time play. It meant that, for the first time, we actually had a bit of audience when we toured. We hadn't really toured much before this album. There'd been a couple of trips to Melbourne and Brisbane but that's it. So it meant that, for the first time, people outside of our very small Sydney fan base knew us. We'd play 'Rockwell' always relatively early in the set. Even though it was on high rotation, it was nowhere near as popular as the second single 'Stupid Boy'. Later, the single 'Got You On My Radar' from the New Violence album was also more popular too. 'Stupid Boy' would go towards the end of the set and 'Got Your On My Radar' right at the end. 

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

 

BEN: The new single 'Stupid Boy' is just about people I know and it's partly embellished to some extent, but it's a combination of different people and a bit of fiction to spice it up a little. I guess myself and a lot of people I know spend a lot of time in pubs and places like that doing what gets done in there. It's just about people you see and things you know and things you hear and things like that. On this current tour we're going to try and get the horn section along that played brass on a few tracks on the album and get them to play at some of the shows. We try and keep it interesting for people 'cause we know that quite a lot of them come to most of our shows. I guess we'd like people to come away feeling like they've seen something good, special, and a little bit different. If they're impressed then I would be happy that we've made their night.

Ben Chamie (Bass), OzMusic Project, 2001

 

REVIEW: Peabody are a devious lot. As noisy and shambolic as they're able to present themselves, there's a depth to their songwriting and performance that belies the goofy, more-rock-than-rock schtick. Theirs is a pop-punk bricolage that pulls local and pop cultures through their musical threshing machine, delivered with enough distinctive personality and passion to prevent it from ever becoming overly studied. Rampaging with a knowing grin through the rough-hewn terrain of 'Do You Wanna' and 'Stupid Boy' with the force of an out-of-control freight train, Peabody have the crowd bristling with a sea of bobbing heads... Peabody are close to attaining something beyond rare in pop and rock music; a type of rock-irony, joyous, manifold, never taking itself too seriously and yet for all that still possessing the sincerity any good rock band needs. Few should begrudge Peabody their slow growth out of the inner-city Sydney indie coterie.

Review of Hopetoun show by Tim, OzMusic Project, 2003  

 

 

BRUNO: We woke up in Byron Bay and Nick Carr, the guy who runs out record label, he can just drink anything all day, he'll get up at 6 in the morning go for a run and start drinking, he's just a machine, he's like forty, and he says to Graeme, "Oh, Monkey sick?", we call Graeme 'Monkey'. I don't know why, because he is a little monkey. He speaks in the third person and says, "Monkey very tired", and so Nick Carr just goes, "Oh, Monkey sick" and Graeme's just there on the curb vomiting. 

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Secret Agent Chicken, 2003

 

GRAEME: We got to tour with some incredible acts. In retrospect, they were the dream days. We'd travel, talk, read, look at the world from a van window, and then lay it all out on a stage in a new land, playing to unknown faces. It was a time when everything felt possible. 

Graeme Trewin (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

 

BRUNO: After a show at the Gypsy Bar in Canberra we got paid like 300 bucks and three cases of beer. We don't know why, there was no one there, and we just sat on stage after we cleared our stuff away, with our three cases of beer, just drinking and drinking and slowly these people started sitting with us because we had beer. This one bloke, called 'Arty Farty'... he was this Peruvian guy who played at a Spanish Restaurant in Canberra, and he kind of serenaded people, he played Beatles songs and he played a lot of Spanish songs, and he was asking how to get a gig at the Gypsy Bar. Then he asked a couple of his friends over, and then a couple more and a couple of more. None of them had seen us play that night and we went back to his house and he made us pancakes.

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Secret Agent Chicken, 2003

 

REVIEW: Peabody? Despite the name, and the nerd-like appearance of frontman and guitarist Bruno Brayovic (his thick Coke-bottle glasses point to the influence of Elvis Costello and Weezer more than Steve Urkel), Peabody make a tower of sound akin to You Am I at their loudest and most unhinged. That intensity has only increased on The New Violence, a lean full-throttle rock album that has been boiled down its primary constituents, guitar and vocal melodies interlocked.

Review of The New Violence, Rolling Stone Magazine, 2005

BRUNO: We used to love going to Western Australia. We always got looked after so well over there. We probably went three or four times on different tours. We'd usually play Perth, Fremantle, Bunbury and then either Dunsborough or Margaret River. We also played a couple of shows in Hanoi, Vietnam, when we were invited to play the Hanoi International Music Festival. We met some great people from all over the word. Bands from Japan, Thailand, Russia, etc. On the way there we played two shows in Hong Kong. One in particular was really good - it was the Myspace days and we had kids singing along to whatever the five songs were that we were allowed to upload onto Myspace. 

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

 

 

BRUNO: Our most 'successful' (ahem) single, 'Got You On My Radar', featured Sarah Blasko. We were friends with Sarah through Craig New, who was managing her for a short while at the start of her solo career. Ben and I lived with Craig. Sarah had always been a great supporter and a lovely person in general. As for the song, Ben didn't even want it on The New Violence album. Nick Carr and Anouk both said, not only should it go on the album, it should also be the first single. And I agreed and thus Ben went with the majority. When selecting what will be a single, you ask yourself, "What song is most likely to grab people's attention in as small a time as possible while still being indicative of what the band represents at a deeper level"... we also had good input from the people around us.

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024/2025

 

BEN: (On being the primary songwriter on 'The New Violence') Bruno's a better singer than me and I used to contribute the odd song to the band and as time has passed I've been writing more. The only downside is its taking a bit longer for us to get songs up and running than it might in other bands and sometimes songs end up rather different to how I imagined them. 

Ben Chamie (Bass), Rolling Stone Magazine, 2005

 

From Rolling Stone Magazine, 2005

 

BRUNO: A lot of things we've done we haven't done because we think it's the best way to do it or anything to do with ethics, they've just presented themselves as the only choice... We like to think we do things properly... Ben and I have a great relationship. He can bring me a song and often they're quite personal and obviously it's what he's thinking and I get them and turn them into something of my own... I've known Ben for nearly 20 years so I understand him pretty well, it's almost as if I'm in his head when I'm singing those songs. 

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Impress, 2005

 

BEN: It was an odd progression. It went from Bruno writing all the songs in the early days to me writing most of the songs on the albums. It was fairly organic though, he is a much better singer and front man and so that was his job and I kept feeding him new songs to sing and play! I contributed a couple of songs on the first couple of EPs. On our first album I wrote 7 out of 10 songs. On The New Violence it was about 10 out of 11 and it's been about the same numbers on subsequent albums. Bruno and I are such close friends he was able to give voice to my songs.

Ben Chamie (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

BRUNO: We'd released two albums (Professional Againster and The New Violence) that were pretty well received and had got a lot of airplay. It's stupid, but if you get played on the radio there's a level of sub-conscious vindication you get from it. More than anything, every second week we were out of Sydney, we were going all over Australia. It was just fun - the three of us in a van for at least a couple of years. We were playing festivals, we were getting good supports, all that sort of thing.

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Beat, 2014

 

 

BRUNO: Our style has changed drastically over time - from really simple short bursts of pop punk to some more sophisticated post-punk, to more shoegaze repetitive riffs... but we've always maintained a sense of pop melody. We love the music we make and we're great friends. And we don't take anything too seriously. 

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

BEN: It hasn't been difficult maintaining a core Peabody sound - it's Bruno voice and always the same guitars and amps. Our songwriting would change direction quite dramatically from album to album anyways but I think our sound always pivoted around those core elements. Sonically, the later songs had greater breadth and called for another guitar to play extra parts - there's only so much you can do as a three piece - so that's when we got Tristan in.

Ben Chamie (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

GRAEME: Over time the excitement and optimism diminished. For me, after we had toured The New Violence, we had started to rehearse songs for the next record. I was just finishing a teaching degree. My girlfriend and I were expecting our first born. That serious approach and work ethic was starting to wear me out rather than inspire me and so I found myself feeling almost embarrassed about what had been such a strong ambition in the past. My girlfriend and I decided to move to Brisbane to have our daughter and to be closer to our families, who lived up there. Leaving Peabody felt like a break up. Without too much delay, they became a four piece, bringing two very talented musicians into the fold. The four piece Peabody was a new beast. They've gone on to make several great records. It's funny, I was only in the band from '99 to 2006, but when those years are your twenties it's seems like a lifetime. So I have a million great memories of my time in Peabody - chasing that magic when it all comes together in a rehearsal room, on a stage or in the studio, so many firsts; meeting countless cool and inspiring people, many of whom I'm close friends with today. After I left, I started teaching and soon after, dadding. After a couple of years we moved back to Sydney. I was really missing playing music with friends and so I came back to it. I play in a few bands now - won't ever put the sticks away. But nowadays, it's all about the feeling and friendships. My delusions of grandeur are far less, um, grand now.

Graeme Trewin (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

 

BRUNO: When Graeme left the band in '06 and we got Jared, it felt like a good time to expand a little bit by getting Tristan on second guitar so we could do something a bit different. We found Tristan the old school way about a year later - an ad in the Drum Media. The ad read, 'Peabody require second guitarist. Influences, Peabody'. He was the last one we auditioned and while he would have got the job almost no matter what, the fact was that we got some real stinkers trying out. Actually, there was a really young dude who was a great guitarist but we felt he was too young. He was a prog metal dude who could really play. I think his name was Josh. Anyway, that first album with Jared and Tristan, Prospero, is probably the most ambitious album we've made. It was mostly a push by Ben to expand our sound a bit but I was totally for it too. Jared is also a very different drummer to Graeme and his style lends itself to having a lot more layers.

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

TRISTAN: I came to be in Peabody in a very old-fashioned way. I auditioned. From memory, Peabody put the call out via Drum Media and that they were adding a second guitarist to the lineup and would like to audition any potential players. I rang the number and asked to have a crack. It was fucking great! We jumped straight into writing and doing the pre-production for the album Prospero. They had loads of incredible songs ready to go and we were working on and writing more all the time. It all felt pretty natural. We became good friends very quickly. The other guys were very welcoming and made a big effort to introduce me to the wider community surrounding the band. 

Tristan Courtney-Prior (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

BRUNO: We started on some of the Prospero songs while Graeme was still in the band. In fact, we played 'Buzzard Vs Ibis' at the 2006 Big Day Out with Graeme when we were still a three piece. Ben and I continued work on the songs whilst looking for a drummer. By the time Tristan had joined many of the songs were fully formed and ready. We recorded it at Big Jesus Burger studios in Surry Hills, with the same team as the previous album (Dave Trump on engineering and mixing and Jamie Hutchings on production). It was also our last record on Non Zero Records. The next album Loose Manifesto, we released ourselves under the Peabrain label name, and our last album, A Redder Shade of Rust, was put out on ABC Music. 

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

TRISTAN: My first show with the band was supposed to be a secret gig under a pseudonym on a weeknight at the Annandale Hotel. Our booker at the time may have told a few people about it though - it was packed. A little intimidating for me as there were quite a few Sydney musicians I looked up to in the audience. After this, the first tour was supporting the lovely Intercooler on their album-tour. I think that would have been 2007. We road-tested the Prospero album to whip the songs into shape. Highlights included Chamie and I freezing in our pub hotel room in Albury with no heater and a broken window in the middle of winter! Whenever we went on tour we would do the run of towns and cities that bands could play in the triangle of Brisbane-Sydney-Melbourne-Adelaide.

Tristan Courtney-Prior (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

 

REVIEW: The new four-pronged Peabody takes to the Spectrum stage to launch their new EP The Devil For Sympathy. Peabody have gradually settled into their new quartet incarnation. The pub-rock frivolity has been replaced with a new fierceness. In simple terms they've evolved from the Friday night punch good-time band to develop a new level of simmering seriousness - you now need your ears as well as your beers. The music and songs are denser, deeper and delivered straight from the devil too if the new single is to be believed. They have also delved a bit deeper into 'epic' territory with a number of songs and have a lash at some harmonies to sweeten the deal too... Bruno is still the effusive focal point but on a whole Peabody come across as having struck a new greatness and could be posed for bigger things with their impending album Prospero. 

Review by Andy J. Ryan, Concert Archives website, 2007

 

 

TRISTAN: Recording Prospero was definitely a pivotal experience for me. We were a well-oiled machine by then and I'd been on a steep learning curve leading up to it. It was recorded over four or five days at Big Jesus Burger with David Trumpmanis and Jamie Hutchings. That studio was fucking awesome. It was my first time in a big studio. We had the entire second room set up for guitars and the bass and drums in the first room. Friends of the band dropped by and some helped with backing vocals on the odd song. I was still living in St Marys at the time, so I was doing the rounds of the Peabody couches each night. It felt like a pretty communal experience. My favourite memory was watching Jared and Jamie Hutchings record two drum kits simultaneously live in the big room for 'Sweet Oblivion'. They did it in one take and it was intense.

Tristan Courtney-Prior (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

BRUNO: Tim Kevin recorded Loose Manifesto and Dave Trump mixed again. It was recorded in a shack at Balls Head overlooking Sydney Harbour from the north side, which was pretty cool.

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

TRISTAN: The release of Loose Manifesto was only about two years after Prospero as Prospero got delayed a few times. The recording environment for Loose Manifesto was almost the opposite to Prospero. It was a low-cost album. We recorded Loose Manifesto in a relatively small one-room sandstone shack at Balls Head on the north side of Sydney Harbour. It was just the band and engineer Tim Kevin in the room. No producer. Tim had a sweet deal on the space from the council in that area. It was pretty intimate, and loud. Poor Tim had his desk and gear set up in the same space as the band - my amp was pretty much facing towards him. Again, we recorded the album in four to five days straight. It was all live in the same room. I think the sandstone room sounded pretty cool. While we were in pre-production for the album we had a rehearsal space in Camperdown where we were writing and arranging all the songs. The song 'Mirror Mirror' from that album was proving to be a difficult one to get the right arrangement and approach. I'm not sure how many rehearsal sessions were spent on that song but at one point a guy who lived in some apartments near the studio just walked in to our rehearsal space and told us to shut the fuck up. I guess he was sick of hearing that song, haha! After Loose Manifesto was released we just played Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney, and Melbourne. Possibly Canberra and Wollongong too.

Tristan Courtney-Prior (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

BRUNO: I went overseas a couple of times between 2010 and 2011 and then I went to France for a year in 2012. In that time I developed the Buddy Glass solo stuff and Ben and Jared started Restless Leg. Buddy Glass is worlds apart. I mean, for starters Ben wrote the majority of the Peabody stuff and obviously I'm writing the solo Buddy Glass stuff. I've also got no one to bounce ideas off whereas in Peabody, even though Ben was writing the bulk of the songs, much of it would be collaborative. Genre-wise my solo stuff is pretty relaxed compared to Peabody - it's everything from singer-songwriter acoustic stuff to indie folk and a bit of shoegaze stuff without the distortion. The stuff I'm working on at the moment though will be a big change in direction for me.

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

TRISTAN: We were less busy in 2011 and things then really slowed down in 2012. Bruno went overseas to live in Lyon for 12 months. About six months later I headed to Europe myself and stayed there for a year. I came back in mid-2013 but it took a few months before I was back on my feet and had a place to live. It was probably towards the back end of 2013 when we played our first gig back.

Tristan Courtney-Prior (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

2011 split single with MachineMachine

BRUNO: Coming back to Peabody after developing the solo stuff and living overseas was great! I felt like Warnie when he was given a doping ban and the year off lengthened his career 'cause he came back fresh, haha.

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

BRUNO: I really love A Redder Shade of Rust. Jamie Hutchings produced again and Tim Kevin recorded and mixed it. We recorded it in the school hall at the school I was teaching in at Sydney, which incidentally is where I went to primary school as a kid! A Redder Shade... is a lot more nuanced, has less distortion, and has more layers with the guitar interplay. It's a bit more of an 'indie rock' album rather than the post-punk stuff of The New Violence or the mod punk of Professional Againster. But like all our albums, it's got quite an eclectic mix of styles and genres. We've always been shit at being stylistically consistent. I used to think that was Ben's fault due to his songwriting but turns out I'm just as bad on my solo albums - all over the shop, haha. 

Bruno Brayovic (Vocals, Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

TRISTAN: A Redder Shade of Rust was recorded during the summer holidays inside a school hall over about four days. It was a much larger space than Loose Manifesto and we set up the odd distant mic to take advantage of the space. We recorded it live on Tim Kevin's 8-track machine (same as Loose Manifesto). It's also the only Peabody album that was released on vinyl. The pre-production sessions were all done in our Marrickville rehearsal space, which we built in the years prior to this album. Having our own space allowed us to spend a bit of time recording demos and refining what we wanted to do with the album. Although there was the odd song that was intentionally undercooked. We were lucky enough to put the album out on ABC Records. Amongst other things, they very kindly helped us make a clip for the song 'Gemini'. We also had a horn section on a couple of songs, and I got to crank up a 12-string Ricky on a song.

Tristan Courtney-Prior (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

REVIEW: After four albums that have entrenched themselves into Sydney and Australia's independent music lore, this is a band that will keep adding to its canon for as long as its members are still shuffling along with a semblance of a pulse. A band whose dedication to great albums and great live shows won't slow down, even if the frequency of that output does. A Redder Shade of Rust as an album is a bona fide keeper. Save yourself some time and trouble and press repeat after you press play.

Review of album, ABC Music, 2018

BEN: As the pokies took over all the live music venues slowly disappeared. I remember in 1999 the Annandale and then the Sando shut down their live music offerings. Goldmans at the Newtown RSL opened up shortly after and was the only live music venue in the inner city for a short time. Dark days. Into the '00s some of those inner city venues reopened (the Annandale, the Sando, the Hopetoun) and then they closed again. Today Peabody only plays occasionally but we all play in other bands or do solo stuff. For our current bands there seems to be a lot of smaller venues now and some pub/bar-type venues that offer a guarantee to the bands and free entry for punters. There are so many artists and bands now and so many ways to reach an audience besides playing live. So it's as ever-changing as it always was.

Ben Chamie (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

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