User:Noddyparp/sandbox/Froghollow (Band)

Froghollow were a psychedelic rock band, hailing from the village of Wingello, in the Southern Highlands of NSW, Australia.

History 2001 - 2005[edit]
The band was assembled by Warren Auld (guitar, vocals, jug) (ex Mutated Noddys) and Harvey O’Sullivan (organ, keyboard, vocals) in late 2001, to put some musical ideas together. Harvey recruited a friend, Dean Smith, to play bass. The three jammed together on weekends in the true garage-rock sense – in a garage! Sessions consisted of 45 minute versions of ‘Sunshine Of You Love’ and hour long jams.

However, a month or two later when asked to play a gig at a local Football Club fundraiser, a drummer was needed, and the world wasn't ready for never ending interpretations of classic Cream songs. A local drummer was found, Robin Stone, and Froghollow had arrived. The local Football Club asked the band back to play for a few more gigs. These gigs included covers of a range of artists, including The Modern Lovers, The Velvet Underground, The Beatles, Steppenwolf, The Cure, & Joy Division. The other half of the songs were originals.

Sensing the local scene was never going to handle the loudness or understand the musical output, gigs were secured at the Pot Belly Bar in Belconnen, in the nation’s capital. This venue was a great outlet for a wide range of local Canberra bands. Froghollow managed to get a song (Images Of Broken Dreams) on the second Pot Belly Bar Compilation CD at track 13. There was now no compromise and only original material was performed live from now on.

Two recording sessions at Zen Studios (St Peters, Sydney, NSW) in May 2002 and January 2003 produced an album’s worth of tracks. The album (It’s Just A Ride) is available online at their Bandcamp website, containing a couple of extra tracks, as well as some late outtakes.

Froghollow's originals can be described as psychedelic rock, very 60's, with a hint of 70/80's style punk and mod. The 4-piece line-up was compared at times to Barrett-era Pink Floyd and the early Stranglers. When they started, Stone was still under age at 17, O’Sullivan and Smith were 19 and Auld in his mid 30’s. The four melded perfectly, with their songs showing a combination of all four members’ influences. After the initial Football Club gigs, they played all original material, Auld contributing the majority, though as they went on the other members contributed more and more.

Uncompromising with the loudness of their music, they were kicked out of a New Years’ Eve gig at a local Bowling Club, and cleared a large hall of teenagers at a youth gig.

Froghollow continued to play regular gigs in Canberra, Sydney and Wollongong until they disbanded in early 2005. O’Sullivan and Smith went on to form ‘The Magus’. Auld (bass, vocals, jug) reunited with former ‘Mutated Noddys’ members Steve Abrahall (guitar, vocals) and Brett Bradley (drums, vocals), for a support spot for GBH on 14/10/2010 at the Gaelic Club, Surry Hills, Sydney.

O'Sullivan is now a Mastering Engineer at Studios 301 in Sydney. Auld released a lot of material on his bandcamp page. Stone has been drumming in a number of metal related bands.

Members[edit]

 * Warren Auld - guitar, vocals, jug (2001-2005)
 * Harvey O'Sullivan - organ, keyboards, vocals, guiro (2001-2005)
 * Dean Smith - bass (2001-2005)
 * Robin Stone - drums, vocals (2001-2005)

Album[edit]
·        It's Just A Ride - demo CD, Bandcamp download (2003)

Compilations[edit]
·        Pot Belly Bands Vol 2 - CD album (Images of Broken Dreams - track 13)

Other Recordings[edit]
·        Available on Bandcamp site