ORIGINS: Sydney, NSW
GENRE: Punk
YEARS ACTIVE: 1989-1991
MEMBERS:
- Brendon 'Flip' Davies - Vocals
- Zok - Guitar
- Clancy Warner - Bass
- Nipper - Drums
- Glen / 'Galangal' - Experimental Percussion / Noise / Angle Grinder
RELEASES:
- Lost Recording (1990)
SUMMARY: Punk band active as part of the Sydney anarcho-punk scene that flourished in the late '80s and early '90s. I Am Bacteria I Am Filth were renowned for their inventive use of an angle grinder as part of the sonic landscape they created while playing live. A recording was made but so far has not been located. Galangal passed away shortly after the band finished.
SHOWS:
ORAL HISTORY:
BRENDON: I had been living in Mullum in '88 and the start of '89 and then ended up living with Zok, and Donna and Nipper (both from Tutti Parze), at the Bushranger squat opposite Camperdown Park. We all moved on to the Rose Street Squat on Sydney Uni campus after the Bushranger squat was seized back in the '89 Squat Wars. It was around then that we started jamming, possibly with Nipper on bass before he shifted to drums. Zok knew Clancy as she was always at every gig that happened at the Racecourse Hotel in Randwick (which were usually Tutti Parze shows) so we invited her to play bass.
Brendon 'Flip' Davies (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025
CLANCY: The band was already formed and needed a bassplayer, and that's when I stepped in.
Clancy Warner (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025
BRENDON: Our first show was at the Racecourse Hotel and we played some Punx Picnics. At some point Galangal was asked to join with his percussion desk and sampler, and that's when things really came together and, as far as I'm concerned, really transcended punk. Galangal would be sending sparks off into the audience with his angle grinder. Once or twice I bought some candles and put about 20 of them inside one of those factory roof air intake vents. I'd spin them on the stage during the show (no way you'd get away with that now)... I'm not really sure if it was that well-liked by the meat-and-potatoes-punks but there were one or two people who got it.
Brendon 'Flip' Davies (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025
CLANCY: I remember when a some people stole a whole bunch of old ladies' underwear and started throwing them up on stage at us at our first show, haha. We played a few Newtown gigs, and at community centres, and we would have our faces painted. Galangal had angle grinders and car springs on stage.
Clancy Warner (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025
BRENDON: On another night we all wore Zok's dead grandma's clothes.
Brendon 'Flip' Davies (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025
BRENDON: We were listening to a lot of Butthole Surfers and using a lot of psychedelics. Einsturzende Neubaten were an obvious influence, particularly for Galangal on percussion. Zok and Galangal were broadly influenced by the more gothic end of the spectrum. We didn't just listen to punk.
Brendon 'Flip' Davies (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025
CLANCY: The dynamics of the band were pretty good... could have been the home brew with galangal root mixed in that helped with that, we drank a fair amount of it at band practice. We did some recording in Newtown but I'm not sure what happened to it, I never had a copy.
Clancy Warner (Bass), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025
BRENDON: I lost interest shortly after I Am Bacteria I Am Filth and drifted into other interests rather than punk.
Brendon 'Flip' Davies (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025
RELATED BANDS: Tofu Terror, Deviant Kickback, Tutti Parze, Blind Ambition, Zeebling
