Saturday, June 6, 2026

Blackout Orchestra

ORIGINS: Bankstown, NSW
GENRE: Screamo, Punk
YEARS ACTIVE: 2004-2006
 
MEMBERS:
RELEASES:
  • Demo (2005) - Download Here.
    • 1. Bella Luguosi
    • 2. Scarecrow
    • 3. Fairy Tales for Guilty Hearts
    • 4. The Bells
    • 5. YPO
  • Self-Titled (2005)
    • 1. Scarecrow
    • 2. 100 to One
    • 3. Faster
    • 4. Youth Party Overload
    • 5. Kill All Humans
    • 6. White, White, White
    • 7. Bella Luguosi
    • 8. Police Vs. Prostitues
    • 9. Oxygen
    • 10 Matt's New
    • 11. Drop D

SUMMARY: Shortlived screamo-inspired band from the mid-'00s. Blackout Orchestra played a handful of shows in Sydney but struggled to hold onto a stable lineup, which led to the band's eventual demise.
 
SHOWS: 
  • The Harp, Tempe - 6th January, 2005
  • The Harp, Tempe - 16th April, 2005
  • Bar Broadway, Sydney - Unknown date, 2005
  • Unknown Venue, Katoomba - Unknown date, 2005
  • The Harp, Tempe - 6th October, 2005
  • Arncliffe Hotel, Arncliffe - Unknown date, 2006

ORAL HISTORY:
ADAM: Cam and I wanted to play in heavier bands. We wanted to be like the band Blood Brothers and were influenced by the early screamo bands, like At The Drive In. We'd also been watching a lot of Australian punk bands but I don't think we really sounded like any of them. Primarily, the band was me and Cam, and the bass player at the start was Mark Cohen, with Ivan as our drummer for a while. We never really kept a drummer for long though.
Adam (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

CAM: The band started with me and Adam jamming in his garage / shed. We played with a bunch of people - I'm not sure when it became Blackout Orchestra or if the iterations with other people had other names. Before we had Mark on bass and Matt on second guitar, we had Kimb from Polystigma playing bass for a bit and a guy named Ned on drums. Then Waqar drummed with us at a few shows and on the recording. 
Cameron Mackin (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026


ADAM: Blackout Orchestra is sort of like an angry butterfly, hard to pin down, musically varied, some creaming, distortion, dancing, and dying. We recorded a demo at Party Pig and did it in a couple of hours. I spent most of that time skateboarding up and down the halls of the studios.
Adam Rendal (Vocals), CTW Issue #9, April 2005

Review in CTW #9, April 2005

CAM: Our drummer Ivan got deported - he went back to Russia, Serbia, or somewhere else in Eastern Europe. 
Cameron Mackin (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

MATT: I met Adam when he was playing in Haggard Son. I think I tried to join that band too but I had only started playing guitar and it didn't work out. Anyway, they broke up and then Adam and Cam started Blackout Orchestra. I remember booking them for a gig at the Harp for my 21st with The New Justice Team and Kampei and another band. Blackout Orchestra's drummer left.... he possibly was deported? That's when I somehow joined the band, which probably only worked out because the lack of a drummer meant they had a bit more time and patience to let me try to learn the songs.
Matt Saliba (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026


WAQAR: I came to Australia in June 2005 for my Masters at the University of Technology in Sydney and that's when I met the others via a Craigslist ad.
Waqar Khan (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026


MATT: Tom from The Nation Blue was the biggest influence on my guitar playing at that point, and maybe Bluebottle Kiss, not that I could really play like anyone. Also, just learning the songs from Cam and Adam informed my playing a lot. I started learning when I was 16 or 17, was pretty much self-taught, maybe had one semi-formal lesson... I was just finding guitar tabs and making stuff up at home before joining the band.
Matt Saliba (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

ADAM: I've always written lyrics about my mental health but I prefer to use imagery rather than layout exactly what I'm singing about. I think it's more important for people listening to have their own idea whether it's what I intended to write about or not. I'm probably a pretty introverted person so having the opportunity to express myself on stage was always a big deal for me. Having pretty bad anxiety and depression problems, to feel like I'm being seen and heard is very exciting. Performing was both very fun and extremely terrifying.
Adam (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026


ADAM: My lyrics are more of an attempt to paint a picture or create a feeling, there are no morals or direct messages. 
Adam Rendal (Vocals), CTW Issue #9, April 2005

WAQAR: Joining the band was awesome. We met at a warehouse somewhere and just started jamming. They had a real punk vibe, which was cool because I'd never played punk in a proper band before. It was a completely new experience for me. The others were always super friendly and welcoming. Adam had that classic lead singer cool factor going on. 
Waqar Khan (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

ADAM: Playing the Arncliffe Hotel was a good time - pretty sure I was dressed all in white with my face covered in bandages. 
Adam (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026


MATT: We played four or five shows when I was in the band - one or two at The Harp, once at Bar Broadway where we got asked to play only a few hours before the gig, a fun cafe/DIY space in Katoomba, and then the last show we ever did, which was at the Arncliffe Hotel.
Matt Saliba (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

WAQAR: Out of the four or five gigs we played, one was at Bar Broadway near UTS, where I was studying. I would say that would be my favourite gigging experience as I was flexing at the uni that week - telling people that my band would playing nearby. Haha, my teachers and class mastes were pretty impressed. 
Waqar Khan (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

CAM: We played a show at Bar Broadway with Matt on second guitar. Adam's brother Mark (AKA 'Trouble') got up and sang a song with us. 
Cameron Mackin (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

ADAM: Me and my brother would sing together almost every show. That was so amazing. 'Youth Party Overload' was the song we would sing together.
Adam (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

The Rendal brothers on stage together

CAM: Some guy we knew wanted to record a band for his audio engineering course so we jumped at it. 
Cameron Mackin (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

ADAM: I'm always very nervous about recording - it seems like a lot of pressure to do well and I'm not great under pressure, haha. I think Cam would have organising our recording; I haven't heard it in a very, very long time. 
Adam (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

WAQAR: We recorded at a studio in a uni downtown. I remember Ian Dixon, who recorded and put the mix together - someone in the band knew him and Ian was studying music at this uni where he was required to record and mix and master a live band. 
Waqar Khan (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

MATT: The recording ended up pretty messy from memory... we recorded with a guy who was studying at SAE University College and Waqar came and played everything in maybe two hours one night. We had to play the instruments over the drums in another session and there were some issues. It was the first thing I'd ever recorded so I didn't know what to expect or anything.
Matt Saliba (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026


WAQAR: We were all pretty young back then, probably in our early twenties, and just having a great time making music. Looking back, it was a fantastic experience and one of my favourite memories from my early days in Sydney. 
Waqar Khan (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

ADAM: The biggest reason for the band finishing would have just been the trouble we had with holding onto members. The Sydney scene had changed pretty drastically by that point and I was more interested in doing something different - so I started doing Very Much Robot. 
Adam (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

WAQAR: I did part ways with the band at the very end and joined a band with Ian who'd recorded us. Ian kinda convinced me and he was more into the Tool and Godsmack-type stuff. I was into that more than straight-up punk. I do regret that - as I now listen to the Blackout Orchestra songs and that energy, and think about the gigs we played together and the crowd feedback back then... it could have been a solid band if we had continued. Eventually I ended up coming back to Pakistan after my Masters. But yeah, Blackout Orchestra was an experience and I really miss that energy. Maybe if the others visit me in California I will lineup some gigs!
Waqar Khan (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026


CAM: The band finished because someone probably left and Adam and I may have been over trying to find members. 
Cameron Mackin (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

MATT: It finished due to not being able to keep or find a drummer. Adam and I started Very Much Robot around the time Blackout Orchestra was finishing up. I'm not sure why we didn't ask Very Much Robot's drummer Martin to play in Blackout, probably because he doesn't drive, haha.
Matt Saliba (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

ADAM: We worked so goddamn hard to be this band and I'm prouder of it now than I was when I was actually doing it. It's fantastic but I can also see how sick I was back then and how bad I probably treated people around me.
Adam (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

RELATED BANDS: Haggard Son, Very Much Robot, Hira Hira, Ghost Parade of Garbage Island, Gravel Pit, The New Justice Team, Taco Rebellion, Stalker, None Remain, Safe Word, Gunzel, Call the Medic Call the Nurse, Nice Guys, Cat Heaven, Vaknatt, Polystigma, Death Mattel, Quarter Acre, Entity Paradigm, Call, Shumaun, Rose Hill















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