Artist Info

Beasts Of Bourbon

Genre:	Blues, Indie/Alternative, Rock
City/State:	Sydney
Established:	1983
Members:	Tex Perkins (Vocals), Spencer P Jones (Guitar), Charlie Owen (Guitar), Tony Pola (Drums), Brian Hooper (Bass)

The band formed rather haphazardly in Sydney in 1983. Tex Perkins previous band - The Dum Dums - had broken up with outstanding gig commitments. Arriving at his local drinking spot, Tex recruited fellow regulars Spencer P Jones, Boris Sudjovic, Kim Salmon and James Baker. The band played small inner city venues and recorded their debut album Axeman's Jazz for $100 in an eight-hour recording session/bender with engineer Tony Cohen that was alleged to have involved 72 cans of beer. The album ended up the best selling alternative album of 1984 and sold over 30,000 copies in Europe.

Still a side project to its members, the Beasts were on hold until 1998 when the band assembled and nutted out the Sour Mash album, a gritty album best described as "gut-bucket blues". The band toured Europe on the strength of the album and grew in popularity and stature. The 1990 album Black Milk followed and a new rhythm section of Brain Hooper and Tony Pola joined the fold for the bands finest moment The Low Road, released in 1991.

The Beasts made the inaugural Big Day Out bill in 1992 and toured Europe for the third time. A live double album was released commemorating ten years of the band and their appearance on the first national Big Day Out bill in January 1993. However the success of various members' side projects including the Cruel Sea and the Surrealists saw the band split yet again.

A new line up and album came to light in 1996 with the Gone album, though the response was muted and the band pulled stumps yet again. After some 22 years, 7 albums and burning through 18 members, the Beasts were revived once more for the 2006 Big Day Out and a subsequent national tour.

Beasts of Bourbon - Big Trips and Little Animals  (10 May 2007)
Tex Perkins and Spencer P Jones talk about their recent overseas adventures and the (low) road taken by the band on the way to recording their new album. more

Beasts of Bourbon Berlin Break Up (21 Apr 2008)

The Beasts of Bourbon have once again parted ways after playing the penultimate gig of their European tour ... more

Beasts of Bourbon and Magic Dirt share Mating Rituals (13 Aug 2007)

The Beasts of Bourbon and Magic Dirt are hitting the road together in September ... more

Rockin' For Rights (19 Apr 2007)

As part of a protest against John Howard's new industrial relations laws, join a plethora of quality Aussie acts this Sunday, April 22 at Rockin' For Rights, a protest march culminating in a concert at the Sydney Cricket Ground ... more

Australasian bands to help SxSW celebrate its 21st (14 Dec 2006)

Twenty-five Australian bands have accepted to play at the 2007 South by South West music conference in Austin, Texas in March 2007 ... more