Tumbleweed

Tumbleweed
Background information
Origin	Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Genres	Stoner Rock, Garage Rock, Alternative, Grunge
Years active	1990 - 1998, 1999 - 2001, 2009 - Present
Labels	Seed, Waterfront, Polydor, Universal
Associated acts	Proton Energy Pills, The Unheard, Monstrous Blues, The Pink Fits, Richie & the Creeps, Hot Rollers, Brother Brick, Zambian Goatherders, Celibate Rifles, Radio Birdman, Died Pretty
Website	Tumbleweed Gong

Tumbleweed are a rock group based out of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Forming in 1990, the band would be a mainstay of the 1990s Australian rock scene, with a sound blending in stoner rock, grunge and alternative. Several of their releases would chart in the top 50 on the ARIA Albums Charts: Tumbleweed (No. 48, 13 December 1992), Galactaphonic (No. 6, May 1995), and Return to Earth (No. 11, 1 September 1996). Three releases reached the top 50 on the related ARIA Singles Chart: Sundial (Maryjane) (1993), Gyroscope (1994), and Hang Around (1995).

The band's initial run would span from 1990 - 1998, briefly reforming from 1999 - 2001 for the ARIA Music Award nominated Mumbo Jumbo, only to disband the next year. Tumbleweed would reform in 2009 with their classic lineup for a fifth studio album and remain active as a touring unit in Australia. Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane described the group as the "ultimate stoner's band for the 1990s. From within a post-psychedelic underground haze that evoked the spirit of 1969, [they] came on with lashings of fuzz-drenched wah wah guitar riffs, hard-driving beats, languid vocal melodies and more hair than any band had a right to possess!"

In a career spanning thirty years Tumbleweed have solidified themselves as a major player in the development of Australia's stoner rock scene. The band would release five albums amid several EPs and Singles, all the while touring Australia and other parts of the globe.

History

Formation and Tumbleweed (1990 - 1993)

Tumbleweed were formed in October 1990 in Tarrawanna, a northern suburb of the sea-side city of Wollongong after the demise of The Proton Energy Pills . The three Curley brothers: Dave on lead vocals, Jay on bass guitar, Lenny on guitar and Richie Lewis on drums. Their initial line up only lasted a few months, they recorded a 7" single in Captain's Log, which was produced by Mudhoney's Mark Arm, in December 1990 and released in August the next year on Waterfront Records. McFarlane noted that it was "a distorted slice of voodoo acid-rock". Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described Tumbleweed as the "ultimate stoner's band for the 1990s. From within a post-psychedelic underground haze that evoked the spirit of 1969, [they] came on with lashings of fuzz-drenched wah wah guitar riffs, hard-driving beats, languid vocal melodies and more hair than any band had a right to possess!"

By the time "Captain's Log" was released Paul Hausmeister (ex-Unheard) had joined on lead guitar before Dave was replaced on vocals by Richie Lewis, and Steve O'Brien (also ex-Unheard) took over the drums. The new line up issued a second single, Stoned/Holy Moses, in December 1991 and that month they supported Nirvana on their Australian tour. They soon followed with a three-track extended play, Tumbleweed in April. The two releases were combined into a compilation five-track EP, Theatre of Gnomes, also issued in April. In August they provided another five-track EP, Weedseed, which was recorded by John Hresc and mixed by Doug Colson.

The group signed with Atlantic Records for United States distribution on their Seed label. In November they issued another single, "Acid Rain" and ended the year with the release in Australia of their debut studio album, the eponymous Tumbleweed, which was also produced by Colson. It peaked at No. 48 on the ARIA Albums Chart on 13 December 1992. Atlantic/Seed compiled their tracks from Theatre of Gnomes, Weedseed and "Acid Rain" into the international version of Tumbleweed (also known as Weedseed) which was also issued in December. The group undertook a tour of the US and Europe, their only tour of both continents.

In late January 1993 Tumbleweed appeared at the Sydney venue of the Big Day Out concert. They spent most of the year touring locally, including a joint national tour with fellow Australian group, You Am I, in May and June. Tumbleweed then toured internationally. In March they issued an EP, Sundial (Maryjane), with the title track appearing at No. 35 on the ARIA Singles Chart. They followed with another single, "Daddy Long Legs" in January 1994, which peaked at No. 53. The next year Tumbleweed appeared on the national Big Day Out tour and in June they supported Rollins Band on their Australian tour.

Polydor: Galactaphonic and Return to Earth (1994 - 1998)

The band were signed to the Polydor label by Craig Kamber, who had worked with Powderfinger and Spiderbait. In September they recorded their second album, Galactaphonic, with Paul McKercher producing and peaking at #6 on the ARIA Charts. They issued "Gyroscope" as a single in December ahead of the album, which appeared in May the next year, which also peaked at No. 6.

McFarlane described it as "epic masterwork, a strident album full of fierce, booming metal-boogie and catchy, hard-edged rock'n'roll. As well as the band's formative influences, Galactophonic also revealed a debt to the likes of Monster Magnet, The Stooges, Sonic Youth and even The Beatles". By then they had toured on the Big Day Out series in January and issued another single, "Hang Around", in April. At the end of the year Hausmeister was replaced on guitar by Dave Achille (ex-Full Tab) and O'Brien by Nik Reith (of The Celibate Rifles) on drums.

In February to March 1996 they toured as a double headline with Monster Magnet on their Australian tour. Tumbleweed's third album, Return to Earth, appeared on 1 September 1996, which reached No. 11. The album was also produced by McKercher with early copies featuring a 10-track bonus disc, Ready by Wednesday. The associated singles Lavabread (July) and I Remember (August) had preceded the album, peaking at no. 75 and no. 81 on the ARIA Singles Chart, respectively. In October to November they promoted their recent releases with a national tour and were supported by Magic Dirt. Also in October Tumbleweed issued another single, Silver Lizard.

They started 1997 with their fifth appearance at Big Day Out. Their next single Fang It! appeared in April 1998 and was followed by a year-long hiatus while members pursued various side projects. Lewis combined with Kram (drummer in Spiderbait) to form Hot Rollers which issued a self-titled album in July. Jason Curley and Reith joined Brother Brick with Stewart Cunningham (ex-Proton Energy Pills) on guitar, and toured Australia.

First Reformation and Mumbo Jumbo (1999 - 2001)

Tumbleweed reconvened in 1999 and started working with Phil McKellar on a new album, Mumbo Jumbo. Its first single, Glow in the Dark! (October 1999) appeared ahead of the album, which was issued in March 2000 with the following singles in Planet of the Weeds and Ghostshakers. By that time Jay Curley had been replaced by Phil Lally on bass guitar. Dan Lander of The Planet of Sound felt the album was a "return of the classic, thick, melodic Tumbleweed sound, albeit in a slightly updated form".

At the ARIA Music Awards of 2000 the album was nominated for Best Adult Alternative Album though the award would go to Whatever You Love, You Are by Dirty Three. Despite the resurgence and the nomination Tumbleweed would disband the next year.

Reunion and Sounds From The Other Side (2009 - 2014)

In July 2009 the early line up of Jay and Lenny Curley, Hausmeister, Lewis, and O'Brien reformed and appeared at the Homebake festival in December, followed by a string of reunion dates. They played at the Sydney and Melbourne Big Day Out venues in January 2010, and followed in November by issuing a 2×CD compilation album of their early material entitled The Waterfront Years 1992-94. I-94's resident reviewer, The Barman, noted the release was "an obvious idea that it's a wonder no-one issued this before" and he felt that the term 'stoner music' was "an inadequate and ordinary label, and [the band] are simply riff-heavy rock and roll, with a rhythm section grounded in something more dynamic and bluesy than straight-up 4/4 or boogie. They swing". Amid several other dates, Tumbleweed also performed at the inaugural CherryFest in Melbourne on 25 November 2012.

A new album, Sounds From The Other Side, was released on 27 September 2013 by the Permanent Records label and distributed by Shock Records. Pete Laurie of theMusic website found "isn't about reinventing the wheel, but it never sounds like a lazy rehash of the good old days either". Lewis explained to The Age's Martin Boulton "We got to a point after the re-formation where we decided not to put an end date on it [...] we said we can't keep playing that same period [of songs] for the rest of our lives [...] While we love it and we know our fans love it … in order to be a relevant, creative unit [and] for our own personal satisfaction more than anything, we've got to try writing again and doing something new together and that's been really interesting and amazing". The group announced an Australian tour to promote the album during November and December 2013, alongside Kadavar and Blues Pills.

On 26 August 2014, the band announced, via their Facebook page, that founding bassist Jason Curley had died suddenly at his home the previous day.

Recent Activities (2014 - Present)

Following the passing of Curley, the band would recruit a new bassist in Jamie Cleaves for the band's remaining shows of the year, along with a tour of Australia in 2015 and sporadic festival appearances. The band would release a single in Shadowland / Rebellion circa 2020, the first new songs with the current lineup and first release in six years. Tumbleweed (Along with Mulga Bore Hard Rock and Wolfmother) would also notably perform as an opening act for KISS for their "End of The Road" farewell tour.

Discography

Studio Albums

• Tumbleweed (1992, Waterfront Records; Festival Records)
• Galactaphonic (1995, Polydor Records)
• Return To Earth (1996, Polydor Records)
• Mumbo Jumbo (2000, Universal Records Australia)
• Sounds From The Other Side (2013, Shock Records)

Extended Plays

• Tumbleweed aka Carousel (1992, Waterfront Records)
• Theatre of Gnomes (1992, Seed Records)
• WeedSeed (1992, Seed Records)
• Sundial (1993, Waterfront Records; Festival Records; Seed Records)
• Gyroscope (1994, Polydor Records)
• Armchair Ride (1994, Polydor Records)
• Ride Around (1995, Polydor Records)

Singles

• Captain's Log (1991, Waterfront Records)
• Stoned / Holy Moses (1991, Waterfront Records)
• Acid Rain / Funky (1992, Waterfront Records)
• Daddy Long Legs (1993, Waterfront Records)
• Nothin' To Do With The Weather (1995, Polydor Records)
• Silver Lizard (1996, Polydor Records)
• Lavabread (1996, Polydor Records)
• I Remember (1996, Polydor Records)
• Fang It! (1998, Polydor Records)
• Glow in The Dark (1999, Grudge)
• Ghostshakers (2000, Grudge)
• Shadowland / Rebellion (2020, Farmer and The Owl)

Other Releases

• The Waterfront Years 1991 - 1993 (Compilation Album) (2010, Aztec Music)
• Pleased To Meet You / Sweet Little Runaway (Split with Sun God Replica) (2014, veri.live)
• Until It Falls Apart / A Path Through The Forest (Split with Grinding Eyes) (2021, Tym Records)

Members

Current Lineup

• Richie Lewis - Drums (1990); Lead Vocals (1990 - 1998, 1999 - 2003, 2009 - Present)
• Lenny Curley - Guitar, Backing Vocals (1990 - 1998, 1999 - 2003, 2009 - Present)
• Paul Hausmeister - Guitar (1990 - 1995, 2009 - Present)
• Steve O'Brien - Drums (1990 - 1995, 2009 - Present)
• Jamie Cleaves - Bass (2014 - Present)

Past Members

• Dave Curley - Vocals (1990)
• Jason Curley - Bass (1990 - 1998, 1999, 2009 - 2014) (Died 2014)
• Dave Achille - Guitar (1995)
• Alex Lynch - Guitar (1995 - 1998, 1999 - 2003)
• Nik Reith - Drums (1995 - 1998)
• Simon Cox - Drums (1998, 1999 - 2003)
• Matt Houston - Bass (1999 - 2000)
• Phil Lally - Bass (2000 - 2003)

List of Known Tours

• 1992 Australian Tour (With Nirvana) (1992)
• Tumbleweed World Tour (1992)
• 1993 Australia Tour (With You Am I) (1993)
• Big Day Out (1994)
• 1994 Australia Tour (With Rollins Band) (1994)
• Big Day Out (1996)
• Dopes To Infinity Australia Tour (With Monster Magnet) (1996)
• Return To Earth Australia Tour (With Magic Dirt) (1996)
• 2000 Australian Tour (2000)
• 2009 Reunion Shows (2009)
• Big Day Out (2010)
• Back From The Grave Tour (2011)
• Live From The Other Side Tour (With Blues Pills, Kadavar) (2013)
• 2015 Australia Tour (2015)
• End of The Road World Tour (Australia) (With KISS, Mulga Bore Hard Rock, Wolfmother) (2022)

External Links

• Myspace