Staunch

ORIGINS: Western Sydney, NSW

GENRE: Punk

YEARS ACTIVE: 1999

 

MEMBERS:

• Simon Saliba - Vocals
• Tim Walter - Guitar
• Chris Duckworth - Bass
• Matty Albert - Drums
  

RELEASES: 

 

• Self-Titled (1999) - Download Here.
  
• 1. Right
• 2. Your Balls Hang Low
• 3. No, Nah
• 4. Short One
  

SUMMARY: Staunch was a short-lived old school punk band consisting of members from Speckled Foam, Spilt Milk, and Drut, whose previous bands had all finished around the same time. The band practiced a few times, recorded the live demo, and played one show under the name 'special guests'. Matty and Tim started Unpaid Debt a few weeks later, which then became their focus.  

 

SHOWS: 

• Wastelands, PCYC, Blacktown - unknown date, 1999
  

ORAL HISTORY:

TIM: Staunch was a couple of rehearsals and then that was it. The cassette tape should have a warning label on it. The songs don't really have real names.

Tim Walter (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

CHRIS: It was a fun short-lived band. We did one show at Wastelands/Blacktown PCYC of just 4 songs. Simon, the drummer of Drut, was on vocals with his awesome lisp. Matty Albert wanted to have a go on drums. I tagged along with Tim everywhere so found myself on bass. We had a few practices ad then the one show and I think that was it. It was a fun exercise... it was always going to be a bit crappy, but fun. 

Chris Duckworth (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

RELATED BANDS: Speckled Foam, Drut, Unpaid Debt, Hippycrits, My Name is John, Mystro, Lestat, Sinus, Spilt Milk, Hatetrip, Groin, Beaver, The Last Hemeroids, Columbia's Pain, Pandora's Theory, Toe to Toe, Headbutt, Two-Faced

Drut

ORIGINS: Western Sydney, NSW

GENRE: Punk, Crust

YEARS ACTIVE: 1995-1997

 

MEMBERS:

• Gerald Harris (Vocals)
  
• Craig Fisher (Bass, Vocals)
• John De Haan (Guitar)
• Simon Saliba (Drums) [1995-1996]
  
• Leith Phillips (Drums) [1997]
  

RELEASES: 

 

• The Sweet Smell of Drut (1997) - Download Here.
  
• 1. Drut
• 2. Kleptomaniac
• 3. Sink More Piss
• 4. Four Minute Warning
• 5. Field Day
• 6. Always Late
• 7. Wonderful World
• 8. Nice Legs...
• 9. No Government
• 10. Green Eggs and Ham
• 11. Another Victim
• 12. Fix Me
• 13. Non-Tubba
• 14. Blown to Bits
• 15. 1, 2, X-U
• 16. Hell's Getting Hotter
• 17. Mr Suit
• 18. Hint of Clint 

• Live Bootleg (1997)
• 1. Another Victim
• 2. Hell's Getting Hotter
• 3. Fast Cars
• 4. Wonderful World
• 5. Always Late
• 6. Nice Legs
• 7. Mr Suit
• 8. Sink More Piss
• 9. Blown to Bits
  
• 10. Field Day
• 11. Grub / Non-Tubba
• 12. Army Life
• 13. Kleptomaniac
• 14. 1, 2, X U
• 15. Fix Me
• 16. Four Minute Warning
• 17. Green Eggs and Ham
• 18. Druit
• 19. No Government
• 20. Green Eggs and Ham
  

 

SUMMARY: Drut (Turd spelt backwards) came together initially as a hard rock jamming band before the members sought out a singer and switched to the punk genre. They played a lot of shows across Sydney and Western Sydney before some members moved on to form the band Headbutt.

 

SHOWS: 

• Forrester Inn, St Marys - unknown date
  
• House Party, Mt Druitt - 7th June, 1997

ORAL HISTORY:

CRAIG: Myself and John started the band... he and I had similar taste in music and he asked me if I'd like to have a jam. I had no gear but he had a spare bass rig and a bass guitar that I could use, so we started jamming with a couple of others guys but we were playing Cream covers and the like. We decided a punk band was the way to go so we recruited a singer who was a work mate and found a drummer.

Craig Fisher (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

 

CRAIG: Playing the Forrester Inn at St Marys was a good gig. Some drunk woman was heckling me to play fucking Pearl Jame songs... of course we didn't and I told her what I thought of her and her big mouth hahaha. She was with some bogan bloke and was yapping like a chihuahua about Pearl Jam and how we should play their songs.

Craig Fisher (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

CRAIG: Drut wasn't around for long but we had mad fun and did a stack of gigs with some very good bands and some shit ones too...!

Craig Fisher (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2024

RELATED BANDS: Headbutt, Cundalini's Revenge, Counterpunch, Rule 303, Total Abuse, Hate is Enough, Special Patrol Group, Staunch