Sunday, February 15, 2026

Gilgamesh

ORIGINS: Sutherland Shire, NSW
GENRE: Ska-Core, Punk, Ska-Punk
YEARS ACTIVE: 1992-1998
 
MEMBERS:
  • Bob Farley - Guitar, Vocals
  • Porter - Bass, Vocals (1992-1997)
  • Graham Walsh - Drums, Vocals
  • Tim - Saxophone (1995-1998)
  • Chris - Bass (1997-1998)
  • Unknown - Vocals (1992-1993)
  • Unknown - Drums (1992)
  • Unknown - Drums (1993)
RELEASES:
  • Demo (1993)
    • 1. Unknown song
    • 2. Unknown song

  • Shaft Machine (1994)
    • 1. Mother Mut
    • 2. Nothin'
    • 3. Pathway of Hate
    • 4. Home
    • 5. The Day I Get It
    • 6. Judge of Me
    • 7. Always the Same
    • 8. Slacker
    • 9. Ska'd for Life
    • 10. Dan the Man
    • 11. The King of Humour
  • Land of the Long White Shaft (1995) - Download Here.
    • 1. Rodeo Fuck
    • 2. Railway Square
    • 3. Endo
    • 4. Ska'd For Life
    • 5. Happy Family
    • 6. Nothin'
    • 7. Unity [The Jacques Cousteau Mix]
  • Split w/ Poison Bruno (1996)
    • 1. Ape
    • 2. It's a Sin
    • 3. Salt
  • Vulgar Display of Ass (1996)
    • 1. Dan the Man
    • 2. Perry
    • 3. Road-Core
    • 4. King Street Shuffle
    • 5. Jane
  • Compilation-Only Tracks
    • 'Always the Same' and 'Dan the Man' on Neoteny (1995)
    • 'Rocket' (Def Leppard cover) on Rock (1998) 
    • 'Heading Nowhere' on Promotional Use Only (1998)
    • 'Gettin' Old' on Monster Sessions (2009)
 
SUMMARY: Arising in the Sutherland Shire as a three-piece grunge band called 'Smeg', Gilgamesh solidified in 1994 as a ska-punk quartet and would go on to support several international punk bands who toured Australia (NOFX, Guttermouth, Propagandhi) and released some music through the local record label Spent Records. The band infamously signed a record deal with Murmur Records (a subsidiary of Sony) in 1996 but it didn't work out. Founding member Porter left the band in 1997 and Gilgamesh called it a day shortly after. They would later re-form as a one-off for the charity-event Monster Sessions shows and compilation CD in 2009.
 
SHOWS: 


ORAL HISTORY:
PORTER: Bob, Graeme and I started the band in September '92 as a trio for a while, under the name of Smeg, which is a substance that comes out of a guy's d!ck... Anyway, we played for a while like that. Then we went through a couple of drummers because we wanted Graeme to play guitar.
Porter (Bass), Loaded to the Gills #8, 1995

BOB: We did a local gig at the Engadine Youth Centre in 1993, where all the metal moshers and stuff like that are situated. We played grunge and the guy used us for the soundcheck - there were other bands that night: Dying Age, Presto, and This Thing, and we got used as the soundcheck 'cause the other guys were late. 
Bob (Guitar), Loaded to the Gills #8, 1995

GRAEME: We had a singer at the start and we kicked him out. I wanted to sing and didn't want to play the drums but no one else played the drums... we started again as Gilgamesh and Tim joined in 1994 and that's when we really started. 
Graham (Drums), Loaded to the Gills #8, 1995

GINA: When I was 24, my first school I taught at had this kid in Year 12... we got that kid's band, Gilgamesh, heaps of shows with us. Later that kid became a Lawnsmell fan who used to make his own Lawnsmell T-shirts, and he later married my friend's sister. Now he is in the bass player in my current band, Hellebores.  
Gina Monaco (Lawnsmell), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

Gilgamesh interview in Noisecrash Issue 3, November 1993

Talk is Cheap #1, 1995

NOTES: Gilgamesh were a ska/punk band from the Shire... there was a venue in the Shire called Caringbah Bizzos. Me and my cousin and all of our friends used to go there and watch live music nearly every weekend. One time Gilgamesh were performing and the guys in the band came up and had a chat with us and we became friends with them, and they gave me their demo cassette. It just had two songs on it and was like a handwritten thing in pen.
YouTuber, GivesAMinute, 2022

BOB: We were down at Town Hall Pub and we got kicked out of the pub because of a new bouncer they had on, just for that one night. He was a White Power guy and he decided to start kicking some of us out. The rest of us just sat outside. And then this other guy... we think he's an undercover cop or a security guard lording around as if he's an undercover cop - anyway, he decides to come along and tell us to move along because we were loitering, which we weren't; there were plenty of other people standing around. He tells us to piss off and put up a little argument and then he ran back to his car, rings up the police and says there's a huge gang thing going on. Next thing, two paddy wagons and a patrol car... they all descend on us. We decided to leave then. Much to the amusement of the White Power bouncer and the supposed undercover cop.
Bob (Guitar), Loaded to the Gills #8, 1995


Phoenician Club, 1995 - from video by Matt Rees

NOTES: Gilgamesh have made a name for themselves playing a solid mix of ska and hardcore, with a more-than-usual dose of good tunes and dry humour. 
Loaded to the Gills #8, 1995

NOTES: In 1994, Gilgamesh were featured on Neoteny, a compilation from a record label called Spent Unit. There are two tracks from Gilgamesh on this compilation, one of which, 'Dan the Man', is their, uh, sweet fuck you to macho men like gym fanatics that go to the gym and all they want to do is pump weights and tune chicks... Gilgamesh were an angry bunch of young men and this track is probably one of their highlights from their live sets.
YouTuber, GivesAMinute, 2022


Advertisement in Loaded to the Gills #8, 1995

REVIEW: Sydney's answer to Operation Ivy - catchy, fun and rocking ska core. 7 mad songs from 2 perverted guys (four actually). I heard they were going to sign a major deal for millions of dollars. These lads are obsessed with d!cks and bum sweat. Punk rock!
Review of Land of the Long White Shaft in Talk is Cheap #1, 1995

Review alluding to a record deal with Sony, from Dazed and Swarming #5, 1996

NOTES: Gilgamesh were, in my opinion, Australia's best ska-punk band on offer. I was lucky enough to get the 499th copy of their limited-to-500 first EP, Land of the Long White Shaft... With the risk of sounding like the stereotypical punk, this is their best release. Their second EP, Vulgar Display of Ass, isn't as good but also definitely worth checking out for an original display of punk and hardcore mixed with ska. 
Online zine, Censored Thought, 1999

BOB: Vulgar Display of Ass isn't necessary poking fun at Pantera, it's just a bit of tongue-in-cheek. Hopefully if somehow they get to see it they can understand the joke or hopefully they can explain the joke to us. The record shifts between ska, surf, and punk - I like playing the straight-out punk stuff most but it's always good to break it down into the ska stuff. As long as it has some kind of passion to it and a bit of grunt, that's what I like to do the most. Regarding the hidden track on the CD of The Romantics' 'What I Like About You' - this was the only cover we were allowed to do. I wanted to do The Romantics, that song in particular. I'd found a little dodgy 7" of it and the other three band members agreed to do it. I told them, like, the night before the recording and they agreed to it on the sole condition that we never play the song live. So I got my way, but for a price. 
Bob Farley (Bass), Three Hours of Power (Triple J), 1996


NOTES: Sydney's ska/punksters Gilgamesh signed to Murmur, a section of Sony, early in April 1996. They must be striving for fame and money. I think they got a pretty good deal, with heaps of cash. Murmur is the home of Silverchair. Will we see the same popularity with them as we have Silverchair? Wait and see.
Meat and Three Veg #3, June 1996

NOTES: It was a weird time. I heard and could be completely wrong about this - they got offered a contract by Sony but knocked it back because they wanted to use the word 'cunt' in their song 'Dan the Man'. It was the mid-'90s. Punk was massive and no one thought it would fade.
Adam Newman, The Aussie Punk Collective, 2018


BOB: Tim Armstrong (Rancid) came up to our label dude/manager from Spent Music and he asked Graeme to play drums in a recording session for a new project. Then Tim came to us and told me about it, and then he asked Graeme. Everyone was ecstatic. Graeme didn't get over it until a couple of days afterwards. We're not sure what the name of the band is but it was Tim Armstrong and also Matt Freeman - two direct members of Operation Ivy, who are our all-time favourite band. It's not everyday you get to see two guys from the band you love so much. Graeme was just over the moon. 
Bob Farley (Bass), Three Hours of Power (Triple J), 1996

REVIEW: Gilgamesh played a usual enjoyable set of ska/hardcore, perhaps playing the heavier end of their repertoire in view of Mindsnare being on stage next...
Review of Manning Bar show by Merrick Moule, Bourgeoizine Issue 5, 1997

NOTES: I saw Gilgamesh at Sutho Police Boys Club towards the end. They played a whole bunch of sweet new tracks that they said were going to be on an upcoming album. Then it all went quiet. Shame. 'King Street Shuffle' was my favourite song.
Karl Greenhalgh, The Aussie Punk Collective, 2018


NOTES: Unfortunately Gilgamesh recently broke up. I guess that means we'll never get that album they said they were going to release. I'm pretty pissed I'll never get to see the boys again. They were one of the best underground bands to come out of Sydney. You can check Graham out in his newish band Pitbull Attack but I hear they are quite different... seems like everyone wants to be in a hardcore band.
Online zine, Censored Thought, 1999

NOTES: Gilgamesh were a four-piece Sydney band that broke up in early '98 due to unknown reasons... They had elements of ska in their music through a saxophone but never got enough recognition for their hard work. In late '97 their original bassplayer Porter left the band his departure may have been the catalyst for Gilgamesh's death. They did reform briefly to help launch the Rock! compilation, on which they appeared. Very sad to see them split up.
Entry on Gilgamesh from unknown punk/hardcore website, 2000


RELATED BANDS: Not Like Horse, Cruel World, YMYFO, Pitbull Attack, Hellebores, Ruby Slippers, Not Good with Horses

Phoenician Club, 1995 - from video by Matt Rees

Phoenician Club, 1995 - from video by Matt Rees


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