vanilla chainsaws history
The Vanilla Chainsaws started in Sydney in late 1986, with Simon Drew (V,G), Mark Alexander(G), Peter Kelly(D) & Cameron Lee(B). Drew & Alexander had been in a few bands together previously and had written a new batch of songs that they wanted to jam on. Simon contacted his friends Kelly and Lee and organised a practice room. The jam was so successful that they decided to form the band right there and then. On the spot as it were. 2 weeks later they did their 1st gig at the Sando. They only had 15min of songs so they played them all twice completing a ½ hour requirement and leaving a crowd yelling for more. From this point on the band, audiences and critics knew there was something special about this group.
Shortly after recording their 1st shitty demo tape, the chainsaws hooked up with legendary Sydney producer John Bee and recorded the song "When Worlds Collide". Despite the fact that the band was brand new and the song was not available on record it became a substantial hit on Sydney radio. In 1987 they followed this with a great debut single called "T.S. (Was It Really Me)", featuring dense slabs of droning guitar and Simon’s smokey vocals. This single invited comparisons to Husker Du as well as the more rocking songs of British groups like Echo and the Bunnymen or early U2. It was followed by a second and even better single called "Like You" which pushed the image more firmly into the rock side of things. The band’s popularity soared both in Australia and in Europe, where they were signed to Glitterhouse Records for an LP called Wine Dark Sea. They toured the U.S. and then stayed on in Europe for another 18 months touring everywhere from Finland to Greece.
The group returned home and after a stirring set of songs recorded in mid 1991 (featuring the powerhouse "Red Lights" CD released on phantom records), they signed with Polygram Music Publishing and recorded the "Watching Me" CDEP with Tony Cohen (Nick cave, Beasts of Bourbon). By now the band had been through about 5 drummers and 4 bass players……….unfortunately Band member problems continued and Drew and Alexander found themselves with "floating" rhythm sections which seemed to change almost every tour. They toured Australia several more times before releasing "The Worst Place in the World" CD. Featuring the bands most powerful, dark and brooding material to date. A few more tours, member, label, and management shuffles later the DOOM EP was recorded. Although this EP saw the group breaking new ground with Hip/Hop Metal fusion and grinding D-tuning it was never released and has sat in the "vaults" until now.
The Vanilla Chainsaws full potential was never realised due to Member label and management problems. The forthcoming LP from Vanilla Chainsaws will prove testimony to that fact. A mix of their best released recordings and a treasure chest of unreleased material, "When Liberty Smiles" on Tronador Records, will knock the boots off any new listener or dedicated fan. (the 1st 500 copies will feature a live CD containing even more unreleased tracks!!!!)
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