User:Camerongbaines/Cola Wars (band)

Cola Wars are a Punk influenced rock band from Melbourne Australia. What may have started life in the shadowy world of ‘side-projects’ has now morphed into a fully-fledged musical obsession. Members Cam Baines - guitar / vocals Shane Wakker - drum set Mike Juler - vocals / guitar Mark Brunott – bass / vocals

COLA WARS has a pedigree that casts a big shadow on the Australian rock scene boasting two members on permanent secondment from ozzie punk stalwarts Bodyjar and another member hailing from defunct pop-punkers FAO.

Cam Cola is stoked. "For me it simply started out as a musical outlet while Bodyjar took a break. Musically we all meshed big time and that changed everything. Now COLA WARS is totally rockin’ in it’s own right and doesn’t owe too much to any of the bands we’ve been in previously … other than sharing the same energy and passion of course."

Over the course of a couple years of writing and self-editing COLA WARS have developed their own sound and met their mission statement … "heavy and bold… and nothing too half-arsed." COLA WARS are definitely in the same field of operation as Bodyjar, but more diverse and possibly a little more challenging. COLA WARS also carry significant vocal firepower.

Cam briefly formed a band called COLA WARS with Phil Rose of Nursery Crimes fame back in 2001. Despite receiving Triple J airplay and having a couple of songs placed on some notable punk compilations (Caddy of the Year), the band was ultimately stymied by a frenzied Bodyjar schedule. Eight years on and the re-commissioned unit are primed to re-engage the struggle. For them the words COLA WARS are a call to musical arms. Cam also admits, "I originally stole the name from a lyric of an awesome Billy Joel song …who I was really digging back then..." though he quickly adds "… but Billy really lost it after 'We Didn’t Start The Fire'."