Mighty Music from Australia’s Mundane Capital

Can Canberra produce good music?

Fellow music-lover, Amol Shrikhande, wrote a story about the music of Washington DC. Amol proposed that the music from capital cities may not be as exciting as the music from other places.

I piped up in the comments, basically saying, “I see your Washington DC and raise you a Canberra.”

Ah, Canberra, the Australian nation’s illustrious capital.

It was at this point in my article that I wanted to insert a witty quote about Canberra from some internationally renowned Aussie celebrity. But I couldn’t find any. Unless you count Scott Morrison. Which I don’t.

Canberra is a small city plopped between Sydney and Melbourne, but closer to Sydney cos they’re shifty like that. I was taught Canberra is an Indigenous Australian word meaning “a meeting place”, but others say it means “the hollow between a woman’s breasts.”

I went to Canberra once. It was cold but with clean, crisp air and a bright blue sky. The water was delicious. I asked my companions if they could take me to the city centre. Apparently we were standing in the centre when I asked my question.

But I digress. The point of this piece is to tell you about some of the musicians who come from Canberra.

I decided to follow Amol’s lead and checked out the top five Canberran artists listed on Ranker. So here they are.

Frank Gambale

Frank Gambale is a jazz guitarist who’s been performing since the 1980s. Known for pioneering the sweep-picking style of guitaring, Gambale was nominated for a couple of Grammys. Today, Gambale is famous for his guitar master classes as well as his performances.

To be honest, I’d never heard of Gambale as jazz isn’t one of my musical areas of knowledge. But I discovered he’s an excellent guitarist and have been digging his recordings.

While born in Canberra, Gambale moved to Los Angeles in the early 80s.

Alchemist

Alchemist emerged from Canberra as a popular hard rock band in the mid-80s. They started as a death metal outfit but soon got into prog rock and the likes of Pink Floyd and Frank Zappa. In the song, “Garden of Eroticism”, you can also hear an Eastern music influence. I can hear a bit of surf guitar in there, too. Cool tune.

Alchemist were known as a great festival band during the 90s and early 2000s. They played at every Metal for the Brain festival in Canberra. The band has been on hiatus since 2010.

From what I can gather, guitarist Rodney Holder moved to Brisbane, but the other band members remain in Canberra.

The Church

In my opinion, the Church should be at the top of this list. What were the Ranker voters thinking?

The Church is one of my favourite Australian bands. “The Unguarded Moment” and “Under the Milky Way” are a couple of my favourite songs.

I once sang “Under the Milky Way” at a small concert when I used to have singing lessons. My performance was vigorously applauded. By my parents and 8-year-old nephew.

Calling the Church a Canberra band is a stretch since they actually formed in Sydney in 1980. Two of the Church’s founding members, Steve Kilby and Peter Knoppes, grew up in Canberra and formed an earlier band there, Baby Grande.

No members of the Church currently live in Canberra.

Armoured Angel

Armoured Angel is a death metal band that formed in the early 80s and was active until around 1999. I’m pretty sure the band members remain in Canberra as most of their newer music projects are Canberra-based.

I hadn’t heard of Armoured Angel before researching this article, and I’m not hugely into death metal. But Armoured Angel was big on the scene, and I can hear the great musicianship and hard work that goes into their songs.

Youth Group

Youth Group is an indie rock band who formed in the mid-90s. You might be familiar with the 2006 hit, “Forever Young”, which featured on The OC. I’m afraid I didn’t get into either the TV show or the song. The original new romantic version of “Forever Young” by Alphaville is better, in my opinion.

Like the Church, Youth Group actually formed in Sydney. But founding members, Toby Martin and Cameron Emerson-Elliott, went to school together in Canberra and formed an earlier band there called the Morris Brothers.

Toby Martin is now based in Sydney and, while I can’t confirm it, I think the other band members are too.

Special mention: Falling Joys

As I said, I don’t agree with the Ranker rankings. The Falling Joys should have made it into the top five for sure.

“Amen” is one of my favourite 90s songs. It’s also worth checking out Falling Joys’ earlier 80s songs, like “Burnt So Low”, which is edgier than their polished 90s sound.

Falling Joys formed in Canberra in 1985 and moved to Sydney in 1986.

So there you have it — some great Canberra bands that were mostly either formed in Syndey and/or relocated to other cities.