Showing posts with label Adam Kenny. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adam Kenny. Show all posts

Thursday, November 28, 2024

Adam Kenny

Adam 'Fuzz' Kenny

REGION: Lower Blue Mountains, NSW
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Thursday, June 13, 2024

Moneypenny

 
ORIGINS: Lower Blue Mountains, NSW
GENRE: Punk
YEARS ACTIVE: 1998-1999
 
MEMBERS:
  • Flavell - Vocals, Guitar
  • Adam 'Fuzz' Kenny - Bass (1998), Drums (1999)
  • Tomas Anderberg - Guitar (1998)
  • Matt - Drums (1998)
  • Tim Williams - Bass (1999)

RELEASES:

  • Demo (1998)
SUMMARY: Moneypenny was a shortlived punk band based in the Lower Blue Mountains area. They played some shows with bands like The Hassle Brigade, Fifth Place, and Detox Unit but never got around to recording. Lineup changes made it difficult to sustain the band over a long period of time, with Flavell and Adam Kenny remaining the only consistent members from start to finish (though Kenny swapped from bass to drums in order to keep the band going). These two main members would go on to create Little More Than You with two members of Speckled Foam.
 
A Moneypenny shirt
 
SHOWS: 
ORAL HISTORY:
FLAVELL: We called the band 'Moneypenny' because of Goldfinger. I was a huge Goldfinger fan after randomly buying Hang Ups at Parramatta Record Fair. We played a show where we opened for The Hassle Brigade and Detox Unit. That was the last time we played as a four piece, we did another gig in Katoomba as a three piece with Adam on drums and a guy called Tim Williams on bass. That was our last show.

RELATED BANDS: Little More Than You, The Clearview, Strength Within, Badanga, The Rumjacks

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Sunday, March 3, 2024

Strength Within

ORIGINS: Penrith, NSW
GENRE: Hardcore
YEARS ACTIVE: 2002-2004
 
MEMBERS:
RELEASES: 
  • Let the Onslaught Begin... (2002) Demo - Download Here.
    • 1. Strength Within
    • 2. Ruling Class Masochism
    • 3. Taking for Granted
    • 4. Wither Away
    • 5. As History Repeats
  •  True Till Death - Compilation (2003)
    • Figure It Out

  • Demo (2003) - Download Here.
    • 1. Figure It Out
    • 2. Licking at the Wounds
    • 3. These Walls Won't Break
       

  •  We Deliver (2003) - Download Here.
    • 1. Strength Within
    • 2. Trivial Pursuit
    • 3. Licking at the Wounds
    • 4. Dead End Perceptions
    • 5. Yours Sincerely
    • 6. These Walls Won't Break

SUMMARY: Strength Within formed as a six-piece hardcore band with dual vocals before moving towards a more standard one-vocalist set-up. They were an energetic staple of Western Sydney hardcore shows before finding spots on bills with international bands and touring interstate. In 2003 the band signed with Common Bond Records. The band finished up at the end of 2004 with some members going on to form another Penrith-based hardcore band, Bad Blood.

SHOWS: 
  • Vic on the Park, Marrickville - 17th April, 2004
  • Against / Mindsnare National Tour - time and date unknown, 2004
  • Annandale Hotel, Annandale - 18th November, 2004 
  • Arncliffe Hotel, Arncliffe - 26th November, 2004

ORAL HISTORY:
ANDREW: There was essentially a merger of strung-together Penrith fellas who wanted to do a hardcore band... We'd all become regulars going to see hardcore bands at the Iron Duke and Green Square and we were keen to get some Penrith representation on the stage.
Andrew Elphick (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
ADAM: We started 2001, after I finished with Little More Than You. I left the band to go to Ireland in 2003 but they kept going for a bit. Bad Blood then kinda formed from Strength Within.
Adam Kenny (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

JOSH: I came into the band as an experimental idea of having two singers. I later left the band in late 2003 to concentrate on work as a chef and also the guys wanted to concentrate on having one singer. Andrew was the man, had an awesome, crazy in-your-face voice!
Josh Matheson (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

ANDREW: There were definitely big metal influences in the beginning, we had two singers, a lot of conflicting ideas. By the time we got past our demo there were a few lineup changes... Far out Ben Brady was a wicked drummer, he just elevated our sound, brought us to a more punk orientated timing, made us sound a lot tighter. By the end we were a pretty stock-standard hardcore punk band I think.
Andrew Elphick (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
ANDREW: Brisbane was an experience I'll never ever forget. I joked with Sourdin about how I'd probably get the flu a couple months beforehand and lo and behold, Johnny and I got it and it spread to everyone else, so it required extra effort to sing the three shows. The first night we played was a total nightmare, nothing went right for us. It was our new drummer's first show and we hadn't rehearsed for two weeks because he was in NZ and the flu really took hold of us, we were all real bummed out after that show. So the next night we were all mega nervous, we expected another disaster and we had to play after a phenomenal performance by a black metal band called Sakkuth. We got up and soon as the first note played, we clicked and played our hearts out and it turned into one of our favourite performances to date and there were kids who knew our words somehow and sang along. That made us feel all jelly-like haha. Then Sourdin got real sick after the show... he was in a terrible condition, but we were in serious laughter and were out celebrating how cool things had turned out.  
Andrew Elphick (Vocals), Straight Up Issue 1, 2003

Advertisement from Pee Zine Issue 29 (2004)

ANDREW: Touring with Mindsnare and Against was a very awesome experience, despite all of us getting influenza, bronchitis, and various other deadly strains of cold and flu (again). It didn't really have any impact on the fun we had or how we performed so it was good. It was the first time we'd been to Melbourne and Adelaide and the response was ten times better than what we expected. I think the Melbourne all ages show as one of the best shows we've played and attended in a long time... everyone that attended wasn't afraid to mosh and dance and there was even a conga line; a really good atmosphere.
Andrew Elphick (Vocals), Highly Flammable Issue 1, 2004

ANDREW: I'd love to get to work on a full length, but I guess that all depends on if we get a rock-steady line up. Personally I've always wanted to concentrate on developing some awareness of hardcore in Penrith, I think hardcore has massive potential out here, the kids are sick to death of ska and Limp Bizkit clones and we usually get a rad response when we play local shows. The western breeds are pissed, we're the true dregs of Sydney after all, what don't we have to be pissed about?
Andrew Elphick (Vocals), Straight Up Issue 1, 2003

PAUL: My best memories being in Strength Within are playing shows and jammin' with my mates and representing Western Sydney in the HC scene. Being on the Mindsnare/Against tour had to be up there too. That was fun times. The band was just fun times the whole time. I feel we had our own sound in the Sydney HC Scene. A good mix of HC/punk/metal. It was a diverse sound. I liked that.
    Paul Cullens (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

ANDREW: Anyone can pick a fake and we can pick out the kids who are all heart and knowing those kids gives hardcore that special feeling that makes us crave the next show to get to just as heroin addicts crave the needle. But if you see new kids at shows then you should make them feel welcome, throw them mix tapes, let 'em know when the next show is. I hate it when some people are like, 'Oh, I've never seen that person at shows, fuck him/her'. It's that self-righteous bullshit attitude that deters them from coming back.
Andrew Elphick (Vocals), Straight Up Issue 1, 2003

ANDREW: I miss hanging with the band the most. Practice was just a barrel of laughs, very good dudes.
Andrew Elphick (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

RELATED BANDS: Boneless, The Rumjacks, Little More Than You, Moneypenny, Bad Blood, Unpaid Debt, Fatboy, Offset, Badanga, Carnage Flail, Columbia's Pain, Struck 70, Easy Company, The Hassle Brigade, Spasm, Huntsman

Original cover for first release of We Deliver



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Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Little More Than You

ORIGINS: Penrith
GENRE: Ska-punk
YEARS ACTIVE: 2000-2002
 
MEMBERS:
RELEASES: 
 
  • Rhymes with Orange (2001) - Download Here.
    • 1. The Kiss
    • 2. That's Life
    • 3. Cartoon Girl
    • 4. Loves What It's All About
    • 5. Crapitalism
    • 6. Give a Damn
  •  Unreleased Live Album (2001) - Download Here.
    • 1. Cartoon Girl
    • 2. Love's What It's All About
    • 3. Dependency
    • 4. Play Some Farkin' Barnssssyyy
    • 5. Crapitalism
    • 6. Girl Named Heartache
    • 7. What More
    • 8. That's Life
    • 9. Give a Damn
    • 10. Missing You
    • 11. The Kiss
    • 12. Shifting Sands
    • 13. Big Red Secret
    • 14. Crapitalism (Swing Version)
 
SUMMARY: Little More Than You initially grew as a four-piece (Joey, Martin, Flavel, Adam) out of Speckled Foam at the end of 1999/beginning of 2000, with Martin playing guitar and Adam playing drums. Martin and Adam swapped instruments after about 6 other guitarists were audtioned and then the band accumulated members until the point where they could round out their 3-piece horn section as a fully-fledged '90s style ska-punk band. The band quickly became one of the most popular Penrith acts at the time, with some of their performance at the Grounded Festival broadcast on Channel V. 

Sometime around the beginning of 2002, Joey left to join Unpaid Debt. He was replaced by a new singer, Scott Pierce, for about four months before the band folded due to a range of conflicting commitments (band members doing their HSC exams or moving on to other styles of music).
 
 
SHOWS: 

Setlist

ORAL HISTORY:
MARTIN: It came out of the back of Speckled Foam. Joe and I wanted to started a band with a bigger sound, with a full time horn section. We dabbled with it in Speckled Foam but that wasn't a full time part of that band. We used it at some points, and we had sort of started merging into a lot of the ska sound already (which you can hear in the Speckled Foam recordings), which was really fun and I think we were enjoying it at the time. That's probably how Little More Than You began.
Martin Birrell, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024
 
JOEY: At the time, with me and Marty in Speckled Foam, there seemed to be this increasing trend for local bands and Sydney bands that suggested the band was way better than the audience and there was this whole ego thing going on and the band name - we just wanted to suggest that we aren't really more than the audiences, we're all part of the same scene - we need them and they need us and they're as important as we are.
Joey Catanzaro, Obzine Issue 23, February 2002 
 
JOEY: After Speckled Foam parted ways Bizz (drummer Martin BirrelI) and I were determined to get a ska band with horns off the ground. It was a time-consuming challenge building a 7 piece band from scratch. Bizz and I had no idea who to draft so we went scouting. We didn’t really know any of the members who would eventually form the band, not well, anyway. Getting Brendan on bass was a key moment (he went to school with my sister). He brought in Fuzz, who initially auditioned for drums, but ended up on guitar. (Fuzz was and is a lovely bloke who had a strange fixation with wanting to fight me. Presumably he still does). The horn section was the tricky part. Scott (trombone) was a great guy who had been the year above me at school... He was also a clown, as in, literally a children’s entertainer. The balloon animals were the best! Tim (trumpet) brought the Boho jazz vibes. Chloe was in the scene already and a musical virtuoso. She was responsible for a lot of the brass lines that really made the band sing. Didn’t hurt that her mum booked a local venue! It took what felt like forever to get it off the ground… (have you ever tried to schedule a band practice around 7 people?) But when it did happen, it really took off in the West.
Joey Catanzaro, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024 
 
FLAVELL: I used to go and see Joe in his little second hand shop and fuck around with guitars and the drum machines and shit and he asked me to come along for an audition so I did and then I brought along Timmy cause I used to go to school with Tim (Purtell) and after that I brought in Fuzz (Adam Kenny), who originally played drums for us.
Flavell, Obzine Issue 23, February 2002

MARTY: I wanted to play guitar. I was sick of being up the back.
Martin Birrell, Obzine Issue 23, February 2002

CHLOE: I was playing with Badtown Allstars before Little More Than You, even though I didn't play any gigs with them.
Chloe Keeble, Obzine Issue 23, February 2002

CHLOE: I was in the scene and mates with Spudgun, and apparently was scheduled to join them on sax but I made the immediate switch to Little More Than You since it was more the ska vibes I liked. I was what - 15 at the time? The other members were all 19-21 so my parents were a bit shocked, but supportive in the end (they came to every Kelts Bar show to sign me off as a minor, but they loved the music too... or so they told me haha!). Highlights included the Grounded Festival (also because I frothed we were on the same lineup with other great bands) and playing with and hanging out with Area 7 while all of us were wearing Panthers jerseys!
Choe Keeble, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

JOEY: We need a trombone player and I knew Scott from primary school, but I didn't have his number or anything, and I'd been to his house once in Year Five. So me and Marty went around, like walking the streets, to find his house and we found it. And yeah, he was up for it.
Joey Catanzaro, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 
MARTIN: The band community at that point seemed fairly close-knit and supportive of each other which was very cool to me. It was a highlight to be entertaining people who cared enough to bother to come and see us or whoever we were playing with. Without an audience it's just a rehearsal. It was honestly a really fun to be a part of back then. Don't know anything about it now but I hope that's continued.
Martin Birrell, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

JOEY: We sent in a bio and a demo to Channel V and apparently the guy who was choosing what got played was a big ska fan, so he was really impressed - and it was really good, I had heaps of fun doing it, it was cool. There's heaps of talent in Western Sydney, it's heaps underrated, and I was just happy to represent Penrith on TV.
Joey Catanzaro, Obzine Issue 23, 2024

JOEY: We did a TV appearance, we recorded an EP (Rhymes with Orange), we had some great times. We would put on gigs at places like Blaxland Tavern, we’d pull the crowd and pack the place, but we would always make sure all the money was divided equally amongst all the bands. There were some non-band members who were really important to the band and part of the community who supported us. Geoff (Blockbuster, stage invader) among them. Our EP launch was one of the greatest gigs I have ever played. It was my last with LMTY, and my first with what was (at the time) a ska punk band called Unpaid Debt. The gig was packed, at least 500 people were there. They all knew the LMTY songs. I still to this day don’t know what would have happened if I had stayed with LMTY. They went on to play with Scott Pierce on vocals for some time after. It was a great time in the Western Sydney ska punk scene. And I am so grateful to everyone who made it what it was. “Love’s what it’s all about!” Still is.
Joey Catanzaro, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

CHLOE: After Joe left for Unpaid Debt, I also was trying to finish my HSC and decided to focus on school eventually. The band just kind of fizzled afterwards.
Chloe Keeble, Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

SEE ALSO: Speckled Foam, Unpaid Debt, Strength Within, The Rumjacks, Badtown Allstars, Moneypenny, The Clearview, The Paper Tigers, Black Boy Bear, Badanga


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