Murder

Photo Credit: Tracy

ORIGINS: Sydney, NSW

GENRE: Hardcore

YEARS ACTIVE: 1999-2003

 

MEMBERS:

• Rod Hunt - Vocals (with an absence in 2001)
• Justin Robinson - Guitar
• Graeme Ogle - Vocals (2001)
• Brett Curotta - Guitar (2000-2003)
• Troy Scerri - Bass (1999-2000, 2001-2003)
• Peter Allen - Drums (1999-2001)
• Andy Coplin - Bass (2000-2001)
• Joel Cairns - Drums (2001-2003)

RELEASES:

• Stupid Life-Style Choices (2000) - Download Here.
• 1. Clown
• 2. Cosmetic Perjury
• 3. More Than One
• 4. Simple Plan
• 5. Retribution
• 6. Ownlife
• 7. I'll Never Forget You
• 8. Facts

• Unreleased Album (2002) [as Blasting Process]
• Shut Up
• 9 other songs

• Final Demo (2003) [as Blasting Process]
• What You Want

• Compilation-only releases
• 'Null and Void' on Nectrotardation comp released by Deplorable Records (2000).
• 'Gone for Good' [Poison Idea cover] on a Poison Idea tribute album released by Plastic Bomb Records [Germany]. (2002)
• 'Torment Mixer' on Zen Presents, a limited edition compilation released for a show at the Annandale Hotel (May 11th, 2003)
• 'Jock Gestapo' [Born Against cover] on a Heavyweight Championship compilation CD (2003).

SUMMARY: Forming from a who's who of legendary Sydney '90s bands, Murder arrived onstage as a fully-formed hardcore powerhouse in early '99. Shortly after forming, Brett Curotta joined as a second guitarist to power-up the band even more. Some lineup shuffles occurred midway through the band's run, prompting a name change to Blasting Process and a brief period with Graeme Ogle on vocals. Amidst waning energy, the band called it quits around 2003.

Photo creidt: Tracy

SHOWS: 

• House Party, Sydney - 13th March, 1999 [as Roni Levi and the Cocaine Cops]
• Iron Duke, Alexandria - 22nd April, 1999
• Iron Duke, Alexandria - 22nd May, 1999
• Petersham Scout Hall, Petersham - 12h June 1999
• Hornsby PCYC, Hornsby - 19th June, 1999
• DJs, Gosford - 25th June, 1999
• The President Hotel, Belrose - 10th July, 1999
• Bat and Ball, Surry Hills - 16th July, 1999
• Thirroul Neighbourhood Centre, Thirroul - 18th July, 1999
• Iron Duke, Alexandria - 3rd August, 1999
• Coledale Senior Citizen Centre, Coledale - 6th August, 1999
• Caringbah Bizzos, Caringbah - 14th August, 1999
• Level 1, Gosford - 24th September, 1999
• Iron Duke, Alexandria - 2nd October, 1999
• Iron Duke, Alexandria - 14th October, 1999
• Reclaim the Streets, King Street, Newtown - 6th November, 1999
• Iron Duke, Alexandria - 13th November, 1999
  
• Caringbah Bizzos, Caringbah - 19th November, 1999
• Hornsby PCYC, Hornsby - 21st November, 1999
• DJs, Gosford - 10th December, 1999
• Manly Fishos, Manly - 10th December, 1999
• Iron Duke, Alexandria - 15th January, 2000
• Hornsby PCYC, Hornsby - 22nd January, 2000
• Coledale Senior Citizen Centre, Coledale - 23rd January, 2000
• Iron Duke, Alexandria - 28th January, 2000
• Hunter on Hunter, Newcastle - 18th February, 2000
• Iron Duke, Alexandria - 26th February, 2000
• Gypsy Bar, Canberra - 12th March, 2000 [ACT]
• Punx Picnic, Sydney Park, St Peters - 1st April, 2000
• Iron Duke, Alexandria - 29th April, 2000
• Iron Duke, Alexandria - 22nd May, 2000
• Iron Duke, Alexandria - 3rd June, 2000
• ANU Bar, Canberra - 24th June, 2000 [ACT]
• Whammo, Sydney - 15th July, 2000
• Beacon Hill Community Centre, Beacon Hill - 15th July, 2000
• Coledale Senior Citizen Centre, Coledale - 6th August, 2000
• Iron Duke, Alexandria - 12th August, 2000
• Hunter on Hunter, Newcastle - 25th August, 2000
• Iron Duke, Alexandria - 26th August, 2000
• Rockafellas, Brookvale - 27th August, 2000
• Green Square, Zetland - 12th October, 2000
• Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 17th October, 2000
• Green Square, Zetland - 1st December, 2000
• Green Square, Zetland - 8th December, 2000
• Green Square, Zetland - 23rd December, 2000
• DJs, Gosford - 21st January, 2001

Photo credit: Gavin Tong

• Green Square, Zetland - 21st January, 2002
• Caringbah Bizzos, Caringbah - 13th January, 2002
• Caringbah Bizzos, Caringbah - 16th January, 2002
• Hunter on Hunter, Newcastle - 1st February, 2002
• Caringbah Bizzos, Caringbah - 1st March, 2002
• Green Square, Zetland - 2nd March, 2002
• The Boardroom, Belconnen - 16th March, 2002 [ACT]
• Green Square, Zetland - 4th April, 2002 [as Blasting Process]
• Harbour Cruise, Sydney Harbour - 12th April, 2002
• Green Square, Zetland - 19th April, 2002
• Green Square, Zetland - 20th April, 2002 [as Blasting Process] [DAY SHOW]
• Hunter on Hunter, Newcastle - 20th April, 2002 [NIGHT SHOW]
• The Boardroom, Belconnen - 18th May, 2002 [as Blasting Process]
• Vic on the Park, Marrickville - 8th June, 2002 [as Blasting Process]
• Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 15th June, 2002 [as Blasting Process]
• Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills - 28th June, 2002 [as Blasting Process]
• Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 20th July, 2002 [as Blasting Process]
• Club 77, Kings Cross - 11th August, 2002 [as Blasting Process]
• Hunter on Hunter, Newcastle - 27th September, 2002 [as Blasting Process]
• Surf Rock Cafe, Collaroy - 4th October, 2002 [as Blasting Process]
• Club 77, Kings Cross - 11th October, 2002 [as Blasting Process]
• Caringbah Bizzos, Caringbah - 18th October, 2002 [as Blasting Process]
• Kelts Bar, Blaxland - 26th October, 2002 [as Blasting Process]
• Wonoona Bowlo, Wonoona - 16th November, 2002 [as Blasting Process]
• The Boardroom, Belconnen - 23rd November, 2002 [ACT] [as Blasting Process]
• The Excelsior, Surry Hills - 29th November, 2002 [as Blasting Process]
• Club 77, Kings Cross - 21st December, 2002 [as Blasting Process]
• Club 77, Kings Cross - 21st February, 2003 [as Blasting Process]
  
• Joe's Garage, Gosford - 29th March, 2003 [as Blasting Process]
• Green Square, Zetland - 4th April, 2003 [as Blasting Process]
• Rock Ape, Canberra - 5th April, 2003 [ACT] [as Blasting Process]
• Green Square, Zetland - 20th April, 2003 [as Blasting Process]
• The Excelsior, Surry Hills - 3rd May, 2003 [as Blasting Process]
• Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 11th May, 2003 [as Blasting Process]
• Time and Tide Hotel, Dee Why - 30th May, 2003 [as Blasting Process]
• Joe's Garage, Gosford - 30th May, 2003 [as Blasting Process]
• BJs, Bondi Junction - 27th June, 2003 [as Blasting Process]
• Harbord Diggers Club, Freshwater - 9th July, 2003 [as Blasting Process]
• Bar Broadway, Sydney - 10th July, 2003 [as Blasting Process]
• Beachcomber Inn, Toukley - 13th July, 2003 [as Blasting Process]
• Bat and Ball Hotel, Surry Hills - 19th July, 2003 [as Blasting Process]
• BJs, Bondi Junction - 22nd August, 2003 [as Blasting Process]
• Rock Ape, Canberra - 23rd August, 2003 [ACT] [as Blasting Process]
• Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 29th August, 2003 [as Blasting Process]
• Bat and Ball Hotel, Surry Hills - 6th September, 2003 [as Blasting Process]
• Caringbah Bizzos, Caringbah - 21st September, 2003 [as Blasting Process]
• ANU Bar, Canberra - 27th September, 2003 [as Blasting Process]
• The Excelsior, Surry Hills - 19th December, 2003 [as Blasting Process]
• Vic on the Park, Marrickville - 10th January, 2004 [as Blasting Process]

ORAL HISTORY:

JUSTIN: I got booted out of Toe to Toe in late '98 but I still had a shit tonne of riffs and all my gear, etc., so I checked in with Rod Hunt and Peter Allen to start a band. Troy Scerri came in on bass after that. We covered Husker Du's 'I Will Never Forget You' at our first hit out and it rocked so we kept going. We were influenced by all our prior bands - Massappeal, Terrible Virtue, Persecution, Toe to Toe, and the thousand bands Troy had been in. 

Justin Robinson (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

ROD: In 1998, me, Troy and Justin were sharing a house in Enmore. Justin was no longer in Toe to Toe, I wasn't doing anything, and Troy (who normally plays guitar) was up for playing bass, so we decided to form a band. I used to be in a band (Terrible Virtue) with Peter Allen and we asked him to play drums. It was sometime later when we asked Brett Curotta to join on second guitar.

Rod Hunt (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

NOTES: In late '98, hard-hittin', loud-mouthed drummer Peter Allen and stickman vocalist Rod got the itch and started talking about getting a hardcore outfit together.

Mick Sols, Muster Up Issue #2, June 1999

TROY: I was sharing a house with Rod and Justin. Justin had just parted ways with Toe to Toe and they asked me if I knew any bass players as they were starting a band with Pete (Massappeal) on drums. I'd always loved his drumming and had some bass gear, so I volunteered. I usually played guitar so, playing bass for a hardcore band, I tried to lock in on as much as possible and play as hard as I could.

Troy Scerri (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

ROD: Initially we got together in a rehearsal room and started out by playing covers by some of the bands we were into - Black Flag, M.D.C., Angry Samoans, and (early) Husker Du. A few originals emerged and we played our first show at a house party at the sharehouse in Enmore that me, Troy, and Justin were living in. At the time we were a four piece and hadn't decided on a name yet, so we played as 'Roni Levi and the Cocaine Cops'. Our set was mostly the previously mentioned covers plus a few originals. Another band played first, in the garage, but it wasn't long before the cops turned up because they'd had a noise complaint. They said that if they got a second complaint they'd come back and shut the party down. So we moved the PA into the lounge room, piled all of the furniture into the hallway, and put the mattresses against the windows. A second band played (Mope) and then we played our set. It was a pretty loose night, but the cops didn't return.

Rod Hunt (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

NOTES: Murder is a brand new five-piece specialising in full-tilt, heads-down, twin-guitar driven hardcore punk. Remember when powerful hardcore didn't equate to metal masquerading as hardcore? So do these guys.

Mick Sols, Muster Up Issue #2, June 1999

TROY: Pete came up with the name 'Murder'. I think we liked how blunt and brutal it was. I know a couple of members fucking hated it though - hence the name change later. 

Troy Scerri (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

JUSTIN: Our first show was at a rental house in Enmore. A house party. 

Justin Robinson (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

Pic from Harbour City Hooligan #1, 2000

TROY: We started gigging fairly quickly - maybe about 6 weeks or so after starting the band. Then we thought about adding a second guitarist after a few shows and Pete mentioned asking Brett (who he'd played with in Massappeal). Massappeal were my favourite Sydney band and Brett said yes!

Troy Scerri (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

REVIEW: Murder played a set in the middle of a ten band show and really busted the ears of most of the audience and brought on comments like, "Shit... who the fuck are these guys!!!" ...From the word go, these guys crank. Heavy, hard and fast hardcore punk. Plenty of energy in the show and there was hardly a break. Just plain awesome. Playing a 30 minute set which included a few covers, Poison Idea ('Gone for Good') and Husker Du ('I'll Never Forget You').

Review of President Hotel show in Muster Up Issue #2, June 1999

At the Hunter on Hunter, Newcastle

REVIEW: In my opinion Murder played their best to date, totally murdering and slaughtering everything in their path. Murder's old school, rocking "I don't give a fuck" punk approach is always refreshing from the sea of grind/crust clones out there. Musically you can hear some Massappeal lingering around but their song structures and riffs have evolved quite a bit, nothing against Massappeal, I love 'em. They did manage to pull a whole set flaw-free, only to leave Gosford with chalk outlines and the body count. Trust me, you need to be murdered or you haven't lived yet.

Review of Gosford show by Spider in Mindless Commodity Issue #5, Feb 2000

REVIEW: ...Onto Murder, boasting a smart arse drummer who once wound up Stan Zemanek on-air. "Give yourself a good uppercut," was Stan's response. Maybe the rest of 'em should take Stan's advice as well. Stupidly loud 'n' ugly hardcore - which aint necessarily a bad thing.

Review of Hardcore Superbowl in Drum Media, March 2000

TROY: We recorded one track pretty quick at my old work, Sound Level, and then we did the EP about a year after Brett joined. 

Troy Scerri (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

JUSTIN: Brett Curotta joined on second guitar and we changed the band name to Blasting Process. The sound with Brett onboard was massive. He would riff at practice and we would interpret the mania and turn it into songs. 

Justin Robinson (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

BRETT: I was playing with Pete and a mate (who was in Midnight Oil's drummer Rob Hirst's side band, The Ghostwriters, for a while) in a band called Wagamama. While we were doing that, Pete was also in Murder. They asked me to join and we changed the name to Blasting Process.

Brett Curotta (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

TROY: There were a lot of punk gigs at the Iron Duke, which may be why we played there so much. I also did sound at a few of those eight-band punk bills there, which seemed to happen every other week. Generally there'd be two people on sound for these shows - we'd do four bands each. I was still learning the ropes at that point so I enjoyed it! Doing the PA influenced our sound a little in the sense that I always trying to get a decent sound with the band all playing at the same volume. We were insanely loud but if everyone's at the same volume that makes it way easier for the sound person. Nothing worse than one guy being way too loud. We all had pretty good gear so it became very commonplace for every other band on the bill to hit us up to use our stuff. It actually got annoying eventually.

Troy Scerri (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

ROD: When Brett joined he brought with him a bag of riffs that we shaped into more songs. That led to the songs that ended up on the Stupid Lifestyle Choices EP. 

Rod Hunt (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

ADVERTISEMENT: Sydney legends Murder dish out their first release as a split label release on Snapshot and Barcode the World. Featuring ex-members from legendary bands Massappeal, Toe to Toe, and Persecution. Fuck yeah!

Snapshot Records Ad, Muster Up Issue #6, July 2000

Review by Spider in Mindless Commodity #5, Feb 2000

REVIEW: Driving guitars, unrelenting pace, and prominent vocals - this isn't apologetic, mellow or nice. The massive production does them a lot of favours - it sounds huge... reminds me at times of Poison Idea, which is high praise indeed... a band to watch for.

Review in Maximum Rock 'n' Roll, late 2000

From Renew Issue 2, 1999

TROY: I left for a year as I was playing guitar in Daredevil and we'd been signed and were gaining some traction. It came to the point where it was getting hard to juggle both so I told the guys to start looking for someone to replace me, which took about three days, haha. 

Troy Scerri (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

ROD: There'd been tension between me and Peter and I got kicked out of the band sometime after Andy replaced Troy. I was replaced by Graeme Ogle for a few gigs. Then Peter left the band and I was asked to rejoin. That's when we changed the name to Blasting Process. I never liked the name 'Murder' and after Peter left I was able to convince everyone to consider changing it.

Rod Hunt (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

BRETT: Pete left at some stage and was replaced by Joel, who was seriously an amazing drummer. 

Brett Curotta (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

Photo credit: Rod Hunt

At the Iron Duke

TROY: I came back because Daredevil had come to a temporary halt. Blasting Process had a new drummer lined up, Joel, and I was keen to give it another go.

Troy Scerri (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

JOEL: I'd just moved to Sydney. I think I just replied to an ad in the Drum Media. The band sent me a copy of their CD and I learnt half a dozen songs. They booked a rehearsal room in Ultimo somewhere a week or two later and I pretty much got the gig after that.

Joel Cairns (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

REVIEW: As per usual it was time to whack the earplugs in as Murder cranked up. I have said it before and will say it again: This band is awesome! Punch, fast, heavy and LOUD! The twin guitar sound that pumps out is brilliant. A recording is in the near future I hear and should be a must have in my books if their live performance is anything to go by. 

Review of Iron Duke show, Muster Up #5, February 2000

The band's bio, c. late 2001

JUSTIN: There's about 10 unreleased songs from last year of the band. No one gave too much of a shit about the band by that point. I feel like the scene might have been in decline then or our sound was dated.

Justin Robinson (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

TROY: We recorded an album that never saw the light of day. It pretty much sounds like a continuation of the EP. We just fucked around though, and then Brett left the band. We had no money, were getting less and less people to our shows... so we just ran out of motivation I guess. Our last gig was at the Vic on the Park.

Troy Scerri (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

BRETT: I left not long before the band stopped altogether, to do some Massappeal shows as that band was reforming. The funny thing about Blasting Process is that I actually enjoyed playing Justin and Troy's songs more than my own!

Brett Curotta (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

RELATED BANDS: Drokk, Terrible Virtue, Persecution, Unnamed Band (Sydney '94), Toe to Toe, Massappeal, Summonus, Hostile Objects, Blood Trails, Horizontal Action, Bologna, Nunchukka Superfly, Wagamama, Stitchface, Maus, Blame, Seconds Away, Outright, The Omen, Ganbaru, Methrapunge, Fallen Saint, Death Mission, White Trash, This Thing, Malibu Stacey, Melma Hydrogen, Mortal Sin, Daredevil, Bryan Ferry Sexual Experience, Demolition Highstyle, Fattura Della Morte, Glory Meat, Neptune Power Federation, Mucho Sonar, East Coast Low, Buffalo Revisited, Bad Scene, Stitched Up, No Masters No Mercy, Unnamed Band (Northern Beaches 2021)

Photo credit: Tracy

Photo credit: Tracy

Photo credit: Tracy