Showing posts with label Billy Hughes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Billy Hughes. Show all posts

Saturday, June 7, 2025

Tutti Parze

Pic by Jody Bartolo

ORIGINS: Sydney / Mullumbimby, NSW
GENRE: Punk
YEARS ACTIVE: 1988-1992, 2008

NOTE: This is a work in progress as I continue to gather material and work on a zine focused on Tutti Parze.
 
MEMBERS:
  • Willie - Vocals
  • Billy Hughes - Guitar
  • Donna - Vocals (1988-1991)
  • Soy - Drums
  • Carole - Vocals (1988)
  • Nipper - Bass (1988-1990)
  • Jenny - Vocals (1988-1989)
  • Spacey - Vocals (1989-1992)
  • Stu Magoo - Vocals (1991-1992, 2008)
  • Spin - Bass (1990-1991, 1992)
  • Damien Richards - Bass (1992)
  • Merri / Mary / Mega - Vocals [Fill-in] (1992)
  • Clancy - Bass [Fill-in] (1991)
  • Agro / Keith - Drums [Fill-In] (1991-1992)
RELEASES:

  • Class War / Self-Titled (Recorded 1991, three songs released on comps in the '90s, 7" released in 2018) - Download Here.
    • 1. TRG, You Are Scum
    • 2. Your Funeral is Our Party
    • 3. Promise Her Anything
    • 4. It's Time Now
  • Bite Back (Recorded live c. 1990, released 2018)
    • 1. New Beginning
    • 2. Funding Shit
    • 3. Your Funeral is Our Party
    • 4. Freedom is Not a Slogan
    • 5. More Bombs More Barriers
    • 6. A Good Work Ethic and Have A Nice Day
    • 7. Institutionalised Cruelty
    • 8. Pea Soup
    • 9. We Don't Want a Piece of Cake, We Want the Whole Bakery
    • 10. Unknown
    • 11. This One's Made For You
    • 12. So It's 1989
    • 13. Unknown
    • 14. Unknown
SUMMARY: Tutti Parze began after a busload of anarchic punks arrived in Sydney after being pressured out of Melbourne by police and politicians. Renowned for their integrity as an anti-capitalist, anti-fascist political band, Tutti Parze's passionate live performances incited and inspired a generation of young punks in the late '80s and early '90s. The band was closely linked to the venue Jellyheads and ceased playing shortly after the Jellyheads warehouse shutdown due to an array of reasons.
 
SHOWS: 

ORAL HISTORY:
WILLIE: In the mid '80s - '85 or '86 - the Australian Anarchist centenary celebrations happened. Anarchists from all over the world gathered in Melbourne for one week. Teenage punks came from everywhere in Australia, a hard core gathered and squatted in a group of houses in Hawke Street in North Melbourne and went together to a talk by some old men and women who fought in the Spanish Civil War as anarchists. For us kiddy anrcho-punx this was like being in the presence of living Buddhas. This night shaped us. I already had the name 'Tutti Parze' as my next project. That night, half of us came together. It would take another two years, endless fighting with cops on TV, being brought up numerous times in Victorian Parliament by politicians who wound up demanding our arrest, a magazine about the Russell Street Bombing, way too many raids, a bus, rednecks cutting the break cables on said bus, emergency council meetings in NSW attempting to block our arrival there, and more raids before we would get the other half of Tutti Parze in Sydney. For us kids in Melbourne the revolution was real... it still is.
Willie, Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

DONNA: I wasn't at the Orphanage (where Willie lived in Melbourne) during any of the police raids, though I remember them happening. They were always so brutal, violent and full of humiliation tactics... they raided pretty much all the squats whenever they could and were always fucked. They bashed people, destroyed property, purposely killed baby rats that were companions, and enjoyed using all kinds of horrible intimidation tactics. They definitely targeted us... Somehow a few of us decided to go up North to escape all the violence and bullshit. Willie was setting up a life in Byron Bay,  so Chris (Compost, Mutiny) and I and a couple of friends headed up there too. We were all just living on the beach in some tents, on some land that was owned by this lovely old chap named Tony, who had been a socialist. We were all getting healthy, swimming, eating tropical fruit every day, and smoking tons of hash. Then the cops became aware of our presence and more bullshit started. That's how the move to the Mullumbimby area started... with us needing to get the fuck out of Byron Bay.
Donna (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025
 
WILLIE: Compost were a Melbourne brother-band of Tutti Parze, we had squatted together for years before either Tutti Parze or Compost were bands, back at the Orphanage in Melbourne. Chris from Compost went on to play in Mutiny. Many of us worked at the Squatters Union back then.
Willie (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

WILLIE: Our hut in the rainforest in Upper Main Arm behind Mullumbimby that us 'Orphans' escaped to was called 'Class War House'. The Northern Star newspaper had a front page story titled 'Rat People Must Go' and an emergency council meeting was called on the night we arrived in Mullumbimby because apparently we were a dangerous group associated with the devil. They were demanding for us to be kicked out of the region. 
Willie, Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

DONNA: I didn't stay in Mullum too long. I went back to Melbourne. It was 1988; a really hard year... I was living in a flat in St Kilda with Chris, Jamie (also from Compost) and his partner Jenny. People were always travelling up and back from up North. Willie came to visit and was talking about a band he was starting. Jenny and I decided we were going to go to Sydney and with him and check it out, maybe we had talked about singing at that point. It was all very free form and fun. The night we turned up in Sydney there was a party at the Palmer Street squat and Tutti Parze played our very first gig. Jenny and I screamed and yelled along. We were fully committed after that night and all in.
Donna (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

SOY: We originally formed because there was nothing else around except bands into making money, singing about nothing, and making the latest bandwagon music. When we started none of us could really play (well, I couldn't) but it was fun and it is great to do really political gigs.
Soy (Drums), Blind Ambition Issue 7, April 1991

 
SOY: Our lyrics cover all forms of oppression and abuse and the removal of them from our lives. This includes human / animal abuse and environment abuse. We all live by our beliefs as much as we can given the present circumstances.
Soy (Drums), Blind Ambition Issue 7, April 1991
 
WILLIE: The Racecourse Hotel in Randwick was where we did our first gigs. They were free gigs with free weed, vegan food, and loads of booklets and stuff. We built a following there, we were building the anarcho punk scene. The pub got the money from the bar. We were originally told that Sydney wouldn't go for anarcho-political punk - Sydneysiders preferred Aussie punk pub rock. That's where the free weed and food came in - who could resist that? Gigs were often surrounded by cops who expected it to kick off... it didn't. Cops often surrounded our gigs expecting a riot. They never got in until they got right up in our faces at Jellyheads, in our home, later on. That was one time and they lost. Every other time there were these weird standoffs until someone went home. 
Willie (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

DONNA: We started out pretty early with providing free vegan food and weed. Willie had been living on a piece of property at Terrania Creek (near Mullumbimby) where these guys grew wicked pot and loved to share it with everyone. We would dumpster dive, buy, and most likely shoplift ingredients for big pots of food. We pretty much mainly made curry and chilli, and always very spicy. I think a lot of the folk that we fed initially had no interest in vegan or vegetarian food - but they were all hungry so they would eat, smoke up, get the munchies, think the food was incredible, and then eat more. I often think this was really what started me off on being a chef. Willie and I still swap recipes and talk food constantly.
Donna (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

Pic by Shannon Griffiths

NOTES: One of the best bands to come out of Sydney in a while is Tutti Parze. They play frantic thrash with a large emphasis on politics, they have male/female vocals, and a sound that is somewhere between ENT, Dirt, Crucifix, and with a touch of metal (just a touch). 
Brett, Blind Ambition Issue 3, September 1989
 
DONNA: I don't remember when Nipper decided to leave and at first I think Spin just filled in but then Nipper left Sydney. Jenny left pretty early on in the piece. Nipper had written a couple of the early songs, Billy pretty much wrote all the guitar parts. Nipper could play everything. Willie was the most prolific writer and I wrote a fair bit too. Billy wrote some songs that he sang on also. 
Donna (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

SPACEY: Jen and Carole and Donna were the original female singers. I later jumped on with certain songs... I did that as a thing to come in and replace things and then slowly, over the years, sometimes members couldn't play or didn't show up to gigs, so we had people ready to come up and jump in. Spin was ready to play the bass, we had Mary from Deviant Kickback to help on vocals, and Stu came in on vocals too.
Spacey (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

STU: I remember the first show of Tutti Parze I saw was at Max's at the Petersham Hotel in the backroom there and I just formed friendships with everyone, more predominantly with Billy, who was just an easygoing guy and was inclusive of everyone. Then Billy one day said, 'Would you like to do a couple of songs?' so we trundled off from Billy's place in Lilyfield and we'd go to band practice to a house in Palmer Street where they had a practice room set up.
Stu Magoo (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

NOTES: Tutti Parze are soon to release some vinyl, a split with Melbourne band Compost. They've just done the recording and it couldn't have been done at a better time as they've just added a new bassplayer who's a real demon, as well as a second womyn vocalist, making it three vocalists all up. They played recently and they were awesome. They don't play too often cause some of the members live in the forests, so don't miss 'em when they gig. They are by far Sydney's most anarcho angryheads.
Brett, Blind Ambition Issue 5, December 1990

From the zine Holocaust, Issue 1, 1992

WILLIE: We lived in The Warehouse - there were about 30 of us there, it was run as a commune linked to the Palmer Street squat. It had a huge garden, complete with a taped-off hill of asbestos powder. We had a bathtub we put a fire under in the Warehouse garden so we could heat up the water. The old people in the hospital next door could look down at us - they used to get big cards and put numbers on them and hold one up each time someone got undressed for the bath. The old folks were scoring us, haha!
Willie, Noise Levels correspondence, 2025
 
BILLY: Tutti Parze... that band was pretty full-on, extreme. It was really full-on political and stuff like that. I probably learnt from that time that you can't shove things down people's throats...
Billy Hughes (Guitar), Loaded to the Gills Issue 4, June 1994
 

STU: We went to Nimbin and we did Gathering of the Tribes, which was pretty cool actually. A few bands from Melbourne like Warp Spasm also came up for it.
Stu Magoo (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

SOY: We openly support direct action in defence of our environment as its immediate effectiveness is vital in slowing down the present rate of planet-poisoning. Waiting for the companies or government is obviously too slow because they'll be going for every last cent of profit. Forms of direct action we support range from propaganda, causing economic damage... but direct action by itself changes only the physical because without a change within the attitudes of people the same problems are there (sexism, patriarchy, etc.).
Soy (Drums), Blind Ambition Issue 7, April 1991
 
SPACEY: Rattus was our rat. We had a picture and we put him on a beer bottle, we did our own home brew - we were really into the organic stuff, making the organic stuff, doing things as cheap as possible, so Rattus was our beer label. Willie was really into a band called Negazione and they did a song called 'Rattus'... so everyone in the Palmer Street squat was really into rats. They had rats on their shoulders. Willie's rat might have been called Rattus. So that was our symbol.
Spacey (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

REVIEW: A decent-sized crowd went off in an alcohol-fuelled slamming frenzy whilst Tutti Parze went through their act... The best Tutti Parze songs in my opinion are their crusty metal-styled efforts. Willie's vocals are severe, wretched screaming style and they always seem to have kept their severity (having seen this band a countless number of times throughout the years). Tutti Parze rely on full-on power and sincerity in their gigs and live show. Their backup slide show showed what message they are trying to convey - anti-society, anti-police, anti-cruelty to animals, etc, etc. Tutti Parze deal with this in an ungeneric way most of the time. Bill's guitaring was heavy-as-ever and the drumming from Soy was top notch. The hardcore crowd went away happy at being blown away once again from the relentless Tutti Parze, which are a Sydney hardcore institution. Tutti Parze should be seen by all people who love heavy, harsh, rough and ready music - whether it be metal or punk. My only disappointment this night is that they didn't break out any joints on stage to be passed amongst themselves and the moshers down the front.
Review of show at Newtown Neighbourhood Centre, Holocaust Issue 1, 1992
 
Pic by Simon Duncombe

UNKNOWN: Our music is fast to slow with intricate guitaring and a lot of changes. We can play a lot better now than when we first started plaing, so as a result our songs are better. Influences are UK hardcore and tribal stuff but we listen to all types of music. We still have hopes to record our new better sound. We want something to show for our years together but it has been very hard with our DIY independent ideas on achieving a record plus we haven't got the money. We still haven't got proper equipment. 
Band Member, Holocaust Issue 1, 1992
 
BILLY: The band I'm most proud of being in is Tutti Parze... It was a great learning experience for me and um... very punk indeed. Attitude, lifestyle, everything... very angry people. A lot of members came and went because most of the members did not live in Sydney. Most travelled around and protested in the wilderness, save the trees and this and that. We were all pretty politically active.
Billy Hughes (Guitar) Bar Code the World Issue 2, September, 1995

UNKNOWN: We have changed a lot from our original violent-style direct action lyrics. But the basic attitudes we definitely follow in our everyday life. We are not as naive as we once were in our younger years, however. We are all anti-violence - it could be necessary in some situations but it is a two-edged sword. It is destructive and counter-productive. Who wants to live in a violent world? It is sad that sometimes the only way to achieve change is through violence.
Band Member, Holocaust Issue 1, 1992
 

ARTICLE: Billy admits, "I can't really remember too much. I joined Tutti Parze, a lot of which was just a real bad drug binge." Billy was actually still going to school when he joined Tutti Parze (Italian for 'everybody's crazy'), a crazy bunch of politically oriented punks who were notorious for not playing in 'venues' and supporting more extreme causes. Legend has it that the Butthole Surfers actually requested Tutti Parze to support them, but no one could find them! Angry, naive and confused, Billy used the band to hone his punk-influenced songwriting, coming up with music and organising shows until the newly formed Toe to Toe asked him to join. 
HM Magazine, 1994

UNKNOWN: To be honest, we have found that drugs have provided the band with relief in some ways but there is always a cost. We have had some problems with drugs and we don't want to glorify it... We have seen a lot of our friends fuck up their lives through drug abuse, becoming junkies, etc. There is always a cost to the enjoyment of drugs and alcohol.
Band Member, Holocaust Issue 1, 1992

STU: Originally the band had Nipper on bass but he went off and did something else so then they had Spin, who was a guy that Willie knew from Melbourne. I later stopped doing songs with them, Billy went off and started doing other stuff with Downtime and things like that, so it just sort of disintegrated. Soy started going to uni to do his degree and Donna and a few other people in the scene went to the States and started living over there. So I think that all had something to do with Tutti Parze finishing.
Stu Magoo (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025


WILLIE: Spin, the second bass player after Nipper, he was probably the most talented of all the musicians in Tutti Parze. He could play guitar, drums, bass, piano, trumpet, harmonica... who knows what else he could play, I'd seen him pull out a tin whistle and get a little Irish jig out of it. I believe he was taught by his mother. He was also a very flawed character - like the rest of us. None of us were saints. But he was never the sinner everybody thought he was; he was a communist - a Marxist - a paid up member of the communist party and he was actually never an anarchist. When Jellyheads started putting on the techno parties that was the death knell for Jellyheads because of the noise complaints... when you have dance parties with 600-700 kids (who aren't part of a close scene, we don't know them, they just turn up for parties) stuff will go missing. And Spin was a very easy target for that. He certainly didn't do everything he was accused of. He was exceptionally loyal to me, and exceptionally honest to me, so I can't say a bad word about him. I love him dearly as my brother and I miss him every single day.
Willie (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

SPACEY: We loved doing the gigs, loved the music, loved the energy of it. Loved putting out the message of fighting the system, that's what Tutti Parze was all about. In one way it was good and in another way it was quite exhausting. I do remember the day we decided to stop doing Tutti Parze, that was a very hard thing because that was our family. All the bands around us, they were our family.
Spacey (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

WILLIE: The reunion in 1997 at the Manning Bar, where we were going to support Conflict on their Sydney show... it didn't happen despite 'Tutti Parze' being on the poster. Conflict wanted us to play but I was in New Delhi at the time.
Willie (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

STU: We got back together around 2005 or 2006 and recorded some songs in St Peters.
Stu Magoo (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

WILLIE: We got back together, sort of, for one session in a rehearsal studio. It was recorded live and contained three new songs. Then Billy died. It was impossible to continue with only Soy and me, it would be a different band.
Willie (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

RELATED BANDS: Dogs on Heat, The Tribe, King Pest, Toe to Toe, Bog, Downtime, Black Elvis, Distorted Reality, I Am Bacteria I Am Filth, Tofu Terror, Noisam, Deviant Kickback, Fred Nihilist, Inebrious Bastard, Mahatma Propagandhi, Timepiece, Dirty Nurse






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Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Downtime

 
ORIGINS: Sydney, NSW
GENRE: Hardcore
YEARS ACTIVE: 1993-2002, 2009-2010
 
MEMBERS:

The band's 'classic' lineup - Brenden, Billy, James (1994-1998)

RELEASES: 
  • Demo (1994)
    • Unsure
  • Self-Titled (1994) - Listen Here.
    • 1. People Like You
    • 2. Downtime
    • 3. Standback
    • 4. No Sense
  • Lose Yourself (1995) - Listen Here.
    • 1. Dissident
    • 2. Downtime
    • 3. Lose Yourself
    • 4. Tiny Little Pieces
    • 5. Walk All Over You
    • 6. Stand Back
    • 7. What is Black?
    • 8. What Does It Mean?
    • 9. Intro
    • 10. At War
    • 11. Help
    • 12. Hit Outs
    • 13. People Like You
    • 14. Get This Letter
    • 15. Noble Quest
  • Break Him (1995) - Listen Here.
    • 1. Break Him
    • 2. I Can See
    • 3. See the Smell
    • 4. Restless
    • 5. Falling Down
  • Tempered (1996) - Listen Here.
    • 1. Tempered
    • 2. Spike
    • 3. A New Beginning
    • 4. Help (94 Remix) 

  • Tooth and Nail (1997) - Listen Here.
    • 1. Monkey
    • 2. No Authority
    • 3. Giraffe
    • 4. Footprints
    • 5. April
    • 6. The City
    • 7. P.S.F.
    • 8. Hurricane
    • 9. Spike
    • 10. Reason
    • 11.Bluff
    • 12. What You Lack
  • First in Line (2001) - Listen Here.
    • 1. Superficial Friend
    • 2. Going Down
    • 3. Lara
    • 4. On My Way
    • 5. Payday
    • 6. Trinity
    • 7. Follow Me
  • Compilation-only Tracks
    • 'What is Black?' and 'What Does It Mean' (different versions to Lose Yourself) - on Neoteny (1994)
    • 'Walk All Over You' (different version to Lose Yourself) - on Fusebox (1995)
    • 'Rock for Light' on Rock (1998)
    • 'Fractabrunt' on Rare Cuts (2025) [Noise Levels compilation]
SUMMARY:
  • 1988:
    • Billy Hughes and Brenden Peace form shortlived punk band King Pest.
  • 1993: 
    • The band that would be Downtime forms under the name 'Madhouse' and then changes name to 'Madhouse Suicide'. 
  • 1994:
    • Band changes name to 'Fracture', 'Super 8', and then back again to 'Madhouse Suicide' after replacing their original bassist with Sean Lipsett.
    • Self-Titled 7" is released under new band name 'Downtime' by Lipsett's label No Deal Records in September 1994.
    • Two songs recorded for and featured on the Neoteny comp, released December 1994.
    • Lipsett leaves, is replaced by James Meek c. October 1994. 
  • 1995:
    • Downtime signs to Zen Records and plays the Big Day Out.
    • The band releases the Lose Yourself album on 5th May, 1995, which enters the Alternative charts at Number 7.
    • Nasser Sultan becomes manager of the band. 
    • Downtime plays Alternative Nation festival in Brisbane and Sydney.
    • The band supports Channel Zero (Belgium), L7 (USA), Sick of It All (USA), and tours Australia and New Zealand with Suicidal Tendencies (USA) 
    • Break Him EP released 9th September, 1995.
    • Downtime return to New Zealand for their own tour to launch Break Him EP.
    • Downtime supports Pennywise, Blink 182, and Bodyjar on the 'Good Times' tour. 
  • 1996:
    • Downtime undertakes tours and shows supporting: The Cosmic Psychos, Front End Loader, All (USA), Goldfinger (USA), and The Sex Pistols (UK)
    • Tempered single released sometime before September 1996.
    • The band plans to record their second album in L.A., USA, with Bill Stephenson and Stephen Egerton. This doesn't pan out.  
  • 1997:
    • Second album Tooth and Nail recorded in Sydney. Released in December, 1997.
    • Downtime supports Bad Religion (USA) on their national tour of Australia, and undertakes interstate shows supporting SNFU (USA)
  • 1998: 
    • Downtime records a film clip for their song 'Monkey' from Tooth and Nail. 
    • The band appears as part of the Vans Warped Tour in Australia.
    • Bad Brains cover 'Rock for Light' is recorded for the Rock compilation. This would be the last recording to feature the classic lineup of Billy, James, and Brenden. 
  • 1999
    • Lineup shuffles - James Meek leaves, replaced briefly by Mark (last name not known), and then by Eric Grothe Jr. 
    • Drummer and founding member Brenden Peace leaves not long after James, is replaced by Joel Ellis.
  • 2000
    • Eric Grothe Jr. leaves to focus on his football career with the Parramatta Eels, is replaced by Dave Dunn. Dave then brings in former Shattered Mass bandmate Percy Rimbaud on drums.
  • 2001
    • First in Line EP recorded by the lineup of Billy, Dave Dunn, and Percy Ricaud. Released on 9th April, 2001.
  • 2002:
    • Downtime break up.
  • 2009: 
    • The band reforms with James Meek returning on bass and Grant Lawrence filling in on drums. 
    • Downtime performs as part of the Monster Sessions shows.
  • 2011: 
    • Billy tragically dies in a motorcycle accident in Newtown.
  • 2015: 
    • A severed arm is found in the Maribyrnong River in Victoria with a tattoo almost identical to the artwork featured on the Tooth and Nail album. 

SHOWS: 
 
1993-1994 


1995

1996

1997

1998-2002

2009-2010

ORAL HISTORY:
BILLY: The people in the city used to call us Westies and the people in the west used to say that we were 'money kids'. We were nowhere. The flats where I grew up, in Ashfield, were full of Hispanic families where 15 families would have 10 kids crammed into one or two bedroom places.
Billy Hughes (Vocals, Guitar), HM Street Press, 1995
 
BILLY: Me and Brenden grew up listening to heavy English punk like Discharge, Antisect, G.B.H., and James was influenced by American stuff like Black Flag, etc. These days I don't think any of us listen to much heavy music really but for some strange reason we sort of come out with the style that is Downtime. I still pull out my punk records every now and then... I like Ted Hawkins, he's a black busker from California. I really get into his lyrics. Very inspiring. 
Billy Hughes (Vocals, Guitar), Bar Code the World Issue 2, September 1995
 
Unknown Street Press extract, 1993

BRENDEN: Billy and I met years and years ago, about '86, playing in punk bands around Sydney and continually we couldn't get any gigs cause we were so young, so we gave up and went our separate ways and did our own things then got back together mid-last year.
Brenden Peace (Drums), Serpent Tongue Issue 2,  October 1995
 
BILLY: The band probably started around 1986 or about that... I answered an ad in Phantom Records. I met Brenden and he wanted to start a band. We played a few gigs around the place. Anyway, a few things happened, years went past... me and Sean were playing in Toe to Toe. I left Toe to Toe and Sean did as well... Me and Brenden got another band going together. That was something that I always wanted to do - play in a band with Brenden again. We were sort of jamming around a bit and we played a few gigs as Madhouse and Super 8, but we really needed a big bass sound to back up what we do so we ended up getting Sean because we played in Toe to Toe together and work really well together.  
Billy Hughes (Vocals, Guitar), Loaded to the Gills Issue 4, June 1994

1993 lineup, as 'Madhouse Suicide' - Brenden, Damien, Billy.

BRENDEN: We were called Madhouse but there was a band called Madhouse. So we changed our name to Madhouse Suicide, which we hated, so we then changed it to Super 8... which we hated. 
Brenden Peace (Drums), Loaded to the Gills Issue 4, June 1994

BILLY: Our first show... we were (supporting the Baby Animals and) playing to very, very straight people. We got up there and we played the first two songs and didn't stop in-between. They were very, very fast and very, very heavy and I was screaming fuck this and fuck that. Towards the end, people were booing and telling us to get off. I got really sick of it and said stuff like, "This song's about smashing skinheads" and stuff like that, just trying to get any reaction. It was just so ugly and so yuck.
Billy Hughes (Vocals, Guitar), Underground Surf Magazine, 1998 
 
Billy, Loaded to the Gills Issue 4, June 1994
 
BILLY: The old bass player at the time said to me that he wanted to take the name 'Super 8' so we were pretty much stuck with a gig in a week's time and with no band name. So we said, fuck, we'll go back to Madhouse Suicide. That name doesn't really suit us... Sean came up with the name Downtime.
Billy Hughes (Vocals, Guitar), Loaded to the Gills Issue 4, June 1994
 
SEAN: Downtime basically means loss of productivity. It just came up at work. My boss is always going on about downtime like, "We've got to become more efficient, we've got to cut out the downtime", that sort of thing. 
Sean Lipsett (Bass), Loaded to the Gills Issue 4, June 1994
 
Sean, Brenden, Billy, 1994
 
BILLY: I left Toe to Toe and I didn't want anything much to do with playing in bands at that time. Madhouse Suicide was a muck-around band and when we decided to get serious... I don't know what the turning point was, but I think I just got inspired to be in a band and it sort of changed, things happened and we went through two bass players. The first bassist was a nice guy but he had just started playing bass whereas Brenden and I had been playing in bands for 10 years or something... so Madhouse Suicide broke up and Super 8 started, with Sean of No Deal Records for two shows. 
Billy Hughes (Vocals, Guitar), Bar Code the World Issue 2, September 1995
 
Sean, Loaded to the Gills Issue 4, June 1994
 
SEAN: I had never really played on stage before with a band until Toe to Toe. That gave me a lot of experience with crowds. For half of my time in Toe to Toe I was pretty uncomfortable on stage and fucked up a hell of a lot. With Downtime, I'm a lot more comfortable. I'm enjoying myself a lot more than I did with Toe to Toe... The stuff Billy writes is fairly unique and it's pretty off the wall type of shit. I don't think our band's following anything. I mean, three piece bands are not the goer anyway and we've got long hair. Everyone that's cool has got short hair. So we're not really following a fashion.
Sean Lipsett (Bass), Loaded to the Gills Issue 4, June 1994
 
BILLY: All the bands I've been in before had the attitude that you've got to do it yourself, the kind of punk attitude. And none of us feel that way any more, we don't want to play to one crowd anymore. We want to be able to reach broader audiences.... For 24 hours a day since I was 16, I've been playing in punk bands. Most of the guys my age are all right, they've grown up and mellowed out, we've all got jobs and stuff. But a lot of people who've just come into it, they've got this attitude that we had years ago, 'do it yourself, don't play with this band or that band', be truly independent punk. So we're being snubbed off in certain circles. It's silly because Australia is such a small country, and you've got to do what you've got to do. In America, you can be totally DIY 100 and still get a thousand people at your gig, just because of the massive population. Here in Australia it's just not feasible.
Billy Hughes (Vocals, Guitar), In the Streets, 17th January 1995
 
Rebel Razor, 1994
 
SEAN: Billy had asked me to join Downtime soon after I left Toe to Toe. They were called Madhouse Suicide and I wanted to change the name, landing on Downtime after a phrase my boss would say all the time ("we've gotta cut out all this downtime"... hahaha). I left just after I released the self-titled 7" on No Deal records because the others wanted Nasser Sultan to manage the band and I never liked the bloke. James (Massappeal, Hostile Objects) then joined and that was that... I liked Downtime but never saw them again after I left. Billy and I remained friends up until he sadly passed away.
Sean Lipsett, Noise Levels Correspondence, 2024
 
BILLY: I respect Sean for the decision that he did not want to get involved with a band on that level. He's very independent and staunch about it and he bowed out. No hard feelings there at all. In fact, we laughed a lot at all the rumours that we hated each other...
 Billy Hughes (Vocals, Guitar), Bar Code the World Issue 2, September 1995
 
Review of Self-Titled 7", Loaded to the Gills Issue 7, February 1995

REVIEW: Hard and fast guitar, that's the Downtime forte. A three piece assault that pouts, punches, cranks up the volume and leaves a dull ring in your ears that swells and simmers to the medley of Ramones pearlers during the break 
Review of Metro Theatre show with Cosmic Psychos and Nitocris, 22nd July, 1995
 
BILLY: I concentrate on my lyrics probably a lot more than I do on my music, but they're definitely not political in any way. They're a lot more personal these days. I talk about pain. There's silly songs, like fun and happy drinking songs. There's songs about friendship, friendship gone wrong, love, love gone wrong, happiness, sadness. Everything, just every emotion, I suppose.
Billy Hughes (Vocals, Guitar), Loaded to the Gills Issue 4, June 1994
 
James and band manager Nasser Sultan.
 
BILLY: We were playing some shows and pretty much got to a certain level where we couldn't go any further, really. So we decided that, because we hated dealing with record company people, booking agencies... we'd get a manager. I was doing it myself - hanging out after the show, getting ripped off, organising tours, etc... it's a headache. I am trying to hold down a job, write music, play in a band, and have a social life. So we thought it was inevitable as the band grew. We approached Nasser from Nightmare music and said, are you interested? And he came to see us and really liked us. That was it and we're happy about it.
Billy Hughes (Vocals, Guitar), Bar Code the World Issue 2, September 1995

REVIEW: Special guests for the Channel Zero tour were Downtime, who as usual, put on an excellent show. I gotta say, I'm a bit of a fan of these guys so you're going to be hard pressed getting me to say anything bad about them. They are one of the few bands that are guaranteed to always put on a good show - whether they are playing to a small inner-city pub crowd or a large audience in support of an international act. Their characteristically huge sound contrasts with the physical stature of the lads - it's funny how such little fellows can make so much noise. Downtime inspired the crowd into some heavy mosherama. 
Dave Lornie, Review of show at Phoenician Club, Sydney, in HM, 8th September, 1995 

Street Press, mid-1995, touring Melbourne in support of album Lose Yourself
 
REVIEW: Downtime are barely a year out of the box, yet they were the surprise local heroes at this year's Big Day Out, now release their debut album Lose Yourself (Phantom).
Alternative Charts, 1995
 
BILLY: I want to play for as many people as possible. I want to go overseas. I never used to admit this to myself, I used to be embarrassed about the fact that I wanted to get somewhere with my music. I used to think it was all right just to stay small and play for the cool people. And when I did realise that, I had to make a few decisions that made me unpopular and move in a few different directions. But that's what had to happen... Our goal is to still be heavy but to maintain that 'finger on the pulse' vibe. Y'know, that heavy and dangerous edge, but break through.
HM Magazine, 1995
 
BILLY: The tour that stands out for me was supporting Suicidal Tendencies. Fantastic learning experience, great meeting the guys who I've been listening to since I've been into punk. We've also toured by ourselves. We went to New Zealand with Suicidal Tendencies and got an excellent responses - it was that good that we are back there in October (1995). We don't play a lot of our own shows... a lot of shows we support bands. When we play our own shows we try to give supports to smaller punk bands... we only play our own shows once a month.
Billy Hughes (Vocals, Guitar), Bar Code the World Issue 2, September 1995
 
Downtime on tour in New Zealand, 1995
 
PRESS RELEASE: Getting their big break less than 12 months ago at the Sydney Big Day Out, Downtime has gone from strength to strength. Among their long list of achievements are a number four spot on the National Alternative charts for their debut album and tours with Suicidal Tendencies, L7, Alternative Nation and most recently Pennywise. All the while the band has built a steady following through constant tours of their own of Australia and New Zealand.
Nasser Sultan, Press Release for Street Press, December 1995
 
 
Pic from Noisecrash Issue 3, November, 1995
 
BILLY: Break Him is a 5 song EP that's different from what we did before. The first song is mellow and slow, the next three songs are standard Downtime songs, and the last is an acoustic with me and my guitar, hahaha. It's about people who put others down, and one day your world will come crashing down as well. Not everyone can be up all the time. 
Billy Hughes (Vocals, Guitar), Bar Code the World Issue 2, September 1995
 
REVIEW: Break Him features a track called 'Falling Down', which shows a bit of a departure from the band's established smash 'em up, knock 'em down style but (...) it was something that had to be exorcised as opposed to developing a new direction. 
Review by Darrell Bassett, InPress Magazine, 11th October 1995
 
Advertisement, Phantom Records 1995
 
Review of Break Him, in Drum Media, 25th October 1995
 
Review of Break Him, unknown publication, 1995
 
BRENDEN: It's been a pretty big year for the band, no doubt about it. We've had a lot of lucky breaks starting with the Big Day Out in Sydney and everything's fallen int place since then. We've been complaining of overwork but then we wouldn't have it any other way... At this stage we're pretty happy with Phantom Records so we'll probably stick with them until we, hopefully, head overseas and see what we can find over there... We haven't really decided where we are going to launch ourselves, it'll either be Europe or America. We're getting pretty good audiences in Sydney but we're starting to feel that Melbourne is starting to pick up a lot now and a bit of a vibe seems to be getting around. The turnouts in Melbourne have been very encouraging.
Brenden Peace (Drums), InPress Magazine, 11th October 1995
 
REVIEW: Tonight Downtime exuded a contagious energy which was unstoppable. Their set included songs from their first album Lose Yourself and their new EP Break Him. Years of playing in the scene was obvious with a set full of tight and heavy songs.
Review of Metro show by Mishka, Beat, 1995
 
 
ARTICLE: "One second we're playing to 40 people and the next we're laying to 5,500 at the Big Day Out," explains a Zen-like but very-heavy-on-the-volume Billy, guitarist/singer/songwriter. Looking like displaced urban hippies, Downtime actually come across more like Slayer crossed with the Hard-Ons. "Well, that's one person's opinion," he sniffs, "But we're more influenced by what's around us, like if I've had a shit day at work and I'm pissed off... The theme (of Lose Yourself) is about being down and getting back up again, fighting back and swinging punches. Not blaming anyone else for anything. It's definitely about positive vibes and getting rid of negative energy. Singing about being insecure and questioning myself".
New Faces Article by Jeremy Chunn, Rolling Stones, December 1995

Press Release from band member Nasser Sultan to Drum Media columnist Murray Engleheart, September 1996


PRESS RELEASE: Downtime's latest offering, Tempered, encompasses all the energy and spontaneity shown on their previous releases (Break Him and Lose Yourself) but in a more refined fashion. Tempered captures the powerful raw feel of a live show... the result is an EP that is guaranteed to set the pace and become the yardstick for punk and hardcore in '96. 
Press Release from Phantom Records, 1996

Press Release, to Drum Media, December 1996

REVIEW: Downtime, one of the finest hardcore bands in Sydney, put in an excellent performance of their own brand of metalish-hardcore with abrasive vocals from Billy. They have a new album recently released called Tooth and Nail and tonight's set featured several tunes from it. But being the generous guys that they are, Downtime also played a sizeable chunk of their Lose Yourself album of 1995 just for the fans - it can be noted that these tracks are much more harsh and grindier than the newer ones, which have a decidedly more melodic feel. Downtime seem to have greatly matured as a band during the period between albums, becoming a cohesive unit rather than an exercise in how heavy a three-piece band can sound. Some enthusiastic punters took part in some inventive moshing during the set with a plastic chair being used to propel the person who was seated in it across the shiny and slippery floor. Remarkably all parties to this act came out of it unscathed, much to my disappointment. Blood spilt would have really topped a good night off. Downtime were very impressive tonight, with highlights from the set being 'What is Black?' (the old and abrasive) and 'Monkey' (the new and melodic).
Review of the Hardcore BBQ in Katoomba (6th Dec 1997) by Hans Floggenoff, Anti-Charisma Issue 2, 1998
 
REVIEW: In reality what Downtime have unleashed is an album of such strength and conviction, of such power and honest intent, that no one in their right mind could deny their standing at the forefront of the Australian hardcore brigade.
Review of Tooth and Nail by Greg Chamberlain, Loudmouth, Feb 1998
 
REVIEW: This is a solid sort of hardcore release with just a touch of metal style riffs sneaking in now and then. Lyrics dealing with the well-covered topics of alienation, independence, and taking charge of your life... If you like aggressive hardmetalcore, give this a listen.
Review of Tooth and Nail, TMT Issue 25, June 1998
 
REVIEW: This one really means it. If you're sick of punk rock songs about fast food and teen heartache, Tooth and Nail sounds one step closer to class war.
Review of Tooth and Nail by Simon Wooldridge, Juice Magazine, Feb 1998

Eric Grothe Jr., Sydney Morning Herald, 2nd May 2000

ERIC: I was a fan of Downtime - used to go and watch them play a bit and a mate of mine had this new music store, Sector 7G in Campbelltown Mall, and hired the band to play out front of the CD store for the opening day. They came, except the bassplayer didn't turn up. I don't know what happened the night before or whatever, they had a gig somewhere else... the bassplayer just did a no-show. He'd told them earlier he was thinking about leaving anyway. They were all kind of waiting for it and this was the day he just didn't turn up. So my mate Dazzo (Darren Stapleton) who owned the CD shop rang me and said "Mate, Downtime are here" and I said, "I know, I'm coming down later to watch 'em" and he goes "No, they're here and they need a bassplayer. You know all their songs, come and play bass for them". I'm thinking, you're full of shit, as if I'm gonna play bass with Downtime. Anyway, I went down there and sure enough... they needed a bassplayer. They didn't want to abandon the gig so the singer gave me an acoustic guitar and said "Come out the back and show me if you know all the basslines on a few of our songs so we can play here today and it's not just a no-show". So anyway, I did that, and I ended up playing four songs for them on bass out the front of my mate's shop, all off the Lose Yourself album - 'Dissident', 'Downtime', 'Help', and 'What Does It Mean?'. It was a good little crowd, all my mates were there, it was a bit of big moment for me, I was 17 or 18, and then the singer, after it, because I didn't make any mistakes, hands me a CD and says "Can you learn all these songs and come to Zen Studios and practice and try out for us?" So I did and I ended up getting in the band and the next minute I was in Downtime. Pretty crazy, man, 'cause I was a big fan and then all of a sudden I was in the band but then a year later footy started so I had to brush it, but it was good times.
Eric Grothe Jr., Noise Levels correspondence, 2024 
 
ARTICLE: Grothe gave up football for three years and only resumed last season. He spent his 'downtime' with Sydney punk band Dowtime, touring up and down the east coast and doing their best to follow in the footsteps of Offspring and Green Day by breaking into the mainstream. 
Steve Mascord, 'Origin selection proves young Eric's a Guru, too', Sydney Morning Herald, 2nd May 2000 

ERIC: I ended up pretending I couldn't play a lot of Downtime's new songs because I didn't really like their new stuff. I used to pretend... I didn't quite know it so we'd always used to play a really strong setlist from just the first album, which won me some respect from some of the old school fans but sometimes it pissed off the band members.
Eric Grothe Jr., Noise Levels correspondence, 2024 


ERIC: The gig that stands out was when we supported the Deftones at the Iron Duke in Alexandria. That was awesome. They were probably my favourite band at the time, the Deftones, so when I found out we were going to be supporting them it was a pretty special moment. The gig itself was when Deftones were touring their Around the Fur album. It was just monstrous - it was such a small, tiny venue, the Iron Duke, however, because of that the sound, the noise, and the energy of the place lifted the roof off. Another gig we played that stands out was playing a gig in Newcastle at the Hunter on Hunter and all of Downtime's old school fans were there and because I'd pretended I didn't know the new album and didn't play much of the new album live with Downtime, we played a lot of the old album and the old school fans loved me because they thought I was bringing back the old school sound but, really, I wasn't - I was just playing the songs that I liked. It was a packed house and a big energy crowd.
Eric Grothe Jr., Noise Levels correspondence, 2024 
 
ERIC: I wrote two songs with Downtime. One I'd already had before I joined Downtime but I gave it to them. We didn't end up recording it or anything because I left the band not long after I'd shown them the song. But we did record the other song, we did a demo for it and it came out pretty good. Because I was only in Downtime for about a year or so we didn't get around to writing a new album or anything like that, it would've been good though.
Eric Grothe Jr., Noise Levels correspondence, 2024 
 
ARTICLE: Eric Grothe Jnr is set to play again this season after being released yesterday by Parramatta... To be a professional footballer, Grothe had to quit a band he played in, Downtime. His manager insisted that league remained Grothe's priority and said he hoped to find him a new club soon.
Brad Walter, 'Parra's Grothe takes flight...', Sydney Morning Herald, 2002

First in Line lineup - Dave, Percy, Billy

PRESS RELEASE: Management and label changes together with the recent addition of new bass player Dave Dunn has seen Downtime reinvigorated and busy writing for their next album due for release later this year.
Downtime Press Release, 2000
 
REVIEW: 2001 sees the Downtime lads spring back into action with the limited edition EP First in Line, which will both surprise and please the loyal fanbase. First in Line is a slight sound departure for Downtime, with healthy melodic bursts being incorporated with their traditional riff-heavy sound found in older recordings like the excellent Tooth and Nail and Break Him. The opener 'Superficial Friend' and the rather boppy 'Payday' is where these melodic poppy moments have appeared on this new recording. These songs have nice elements of bands like Millencolin, No Use for a Name, and NOFX but without sounding derivative. It's no surprise really that 'Payday' has gotten some Triple J airplay. Old school Downtime fans have nothing to fear though with songs like 'Trinity', 'Follow Me' and the best song on the EP, 'On My Way', showing the group is still at their devastating best. This EP feels almost like a good transitional release from the group. With several line-up changes over the past few years, the current line-up will hopefully be the basis for the next full-length release.
Review of First in Line by Bryan, OzMusic Project, 2001

Reformed Lineup - James, Grant, Billy

GRANT: Brenden lives in Indonesia, has for years now. Billy was asked to play the first Monster Sessions show with Downtime. James said he'd play bass for it again, having been in 'em for years, and so Billy and James asked me if I'd fill Brenden's shoes... knowing I knew the songs. So I did. Was an honour to get to play for Billy. We did one warm up show then did Monster Sessions, and yeah, a few more after that before Billy passed away. Rest In Peace. 
Grant Lawrence (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

James, Grant, Billy (2009)

Headline from 2015 article in The Age

ARTICLE: Unidentifiable remains began floating to the surface of the river in Melbourne's inner north-west from Thursday and the only way police could find out whose they were quickly was to release the one identifiable feature - the tattoo. On the same night that the police released the image internet sleuths spotted the connection between the devil in the tattoo and the one on the Tooth and Nail album... The band's bassist, James Meek, copied the devil after he found it in an old skating and graffiti magazine. In the magazine, the devil was holding a spray can, but Mr Meek changed his so it was holding a bouquet of flowers.  
Tammy Mills, The Age, 10th February, 2015

RELATED BANDS: Tutti Parze, King Pest, Toe to Toe, Deviant Kickback, Bog, Massappeal, Epics, Barfly, Lost Trolls, Bad Scene, Gold Imparlour, Cruel World, Grand Fatal, Hostile Objects, Lojetz, Lord Sword, Minds-R-Controlled, Ramps, Seconds Away, Twin City Faction, Crankees, AVO, Moral Panic, Nunchukka Superfly, Toulouse, Mink Jaguar, Shattered Mass, Black Elvis, Stone Puppets, Greg Brady Overdrive, Squirm, Super 8, Shrump, Boiling Point, Melancholy, Scapegoat, Mope, We Each Knew, Blood Like Water, 4 Days In A Maze, Violent Abuse, One Take... Earthquake, Frank Rizzo, The Future Device, Gene Pool Sharks, Chroma, Damage Zone, Hostile Objects, Herbal Lunatics, Proton Energy Pills, Unnamed Band, Attack / Delay

NOTE: Profile assembled with thanks to Matt Rees. 

Brenden Peace, 1997

Band rider, 1996



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