( ( ( ((( SAND PEBBLES ))) ) ) ) + The Band

Albums: Atlantis Regrets Nothing (2006, Sensory Projects); Ghost Transmissions (2004, Raoul); Eastern Terrace (2002, Camera Obscura); The Sand Pebbles (7" inch single 2001, Camera Obscura); Shakes (1999).

sand.
pebbles.
nuggets.
stones.
small stones.
sand pebbles.
tiny stones.
pebbled ( fine design context / architectural / effect on wall texture / make up drying on skin / effect of temperature etc ).
stoned.
to be pebbled.
pebbled out of your gourd.
like sands through the hourglass.
such are the pebbles of our stones.
cojones?
who do they think you are?
do they think or is it more of a bruce lee vibe? feel! don't think!
the sound is full of suspense.
not suspended chords so much, just a feel of tension and holding back latent power.
no release from it.
two big fellers. three not so - well , relatively.
all sand pebbles.
all stones.
what are ya?
are we made of sand?
(that means, to be tough, according to gary cooper or william s. hart or tom mix, some pro cowboy anyway).
the idol has feet of sand.
oh and they're precious.
they don't waste a drop.
right on the tongue.
no bar band. no regular gigs to the regular crowd.
these gents are aristocats.
touring? ha! in a van? no way!
no pressure applied from the public or an industry or a media.
there are no dirty fingerprints on this jizz.
its all pure.
from the interior.
oh and they ain't at all indie.
they write a daily tv show for bread and kicks.
and one played league football.
that ain't suffering macaroni cheese and student whine.
atlantis regrets nothing.

Drummer Piet Collins, bassist Christmas Hollow and guitarist Ben Michael X met whilst scriptwriting for the Australian soap opera - Neighbours. Days spent crafting coffee shop and pub scenes for Lou, Harold and a stream of teenage starlets led them to an old taekwondo studio at nights to play instrumental soundtrack rock.Formed on Bastille Day, 1999, the trio started out playing in chill out room at raves and quickly recorded a wild demo record called Shakes.

Referred to in the Who's Who of Australian Rock as 'Skates' (a better title?) - Shakes was sprawling collection of wild experiments with a newly purchased portable VS 880. It featured tracks like 'Start Your Engines', 'Dirty', 'Myrna Loy' and 'Come Down Easy' - songs that still sometimes feature in the band's live shows. Also included were off the wall tracks like the thumpin' 'Year 10', the delicate 'Underground' and a studio jam that fused Byrds and Television riffs into a progressive meltdown called 'Eight Miles High a Television'.

Lack of a singer led to the Sand Pebbles drafting in singer-guitarist Andrew Tanner. It was this line up that got signed to the Camera Obscura label (home of bands like the Green Pajamas and Black Sun Ensemble) and produced two releases - a self titled vinyl 7inch and their debut long player Eastern Terrace.

Around 2001 Ben Michael X and Christmas Hollow were moonlighting as budding producers. The one and only outfit they produced were Melbourne band, the Casanovas. Taped on the fly at a rehearsal studio in Richmond it was this recording together with hot live shows that saw the Casanovas earmarked for super stardom. Meanwhile, the Sand Pebbles were also recording their self titled 7" single. Guitarist Tom Boyce aka Tommy Love guest starred on one of the tracks - 'Noah's Ark'. Mellotronist Beck Zack also added her colour to the three tracks.

Clad in a burnt orange cover inspired by Italian concrete architect Nervi, The Sand Pebbles was a 7" vinyl only release on Camera Obscura Records.

Whilst the band's cover of Julian Cope's 'Out of My Mind on Dope & Speed' made a splash in Melbourne, Eastern Terrace proved more successful for the band internationally than in their homeland drawing solid press from magazines like Wire, Magnet and the New York Times. Like Shakes, Eastern Terrace was recorded at various homes on a portable eight track it combined sweeping instrumentals (Charmed, The Sundowner, The Big V) with honey smacked vocal tracks (My Sensation, Out of My Mind on Dope & Speed, Moving Too Fast). The results showed a softer, more experimental side to the band than their live shows indicate. Clare Moore from the Moodists and Dave Graney & the Coral Snakes added string arrangements.

The album cover (this time swathed in gothic black and blue) continued the band's fascination with Nervi.

A video of 'Out Of My Mind on Dope & Speed' was made by film maker Martin McKenna. It was shot at VFL Park - the one time jewel in the crown of the Australian Football League - at its most desolate. The crumbling stadium looked like a Roman ruin. (VFL Park was also the place where Kiss did their legendary show back in 1980). The video should be in the Smithsonian Institute, it's that historically relevant.

Keyboardist Murray Ono (the man behind the music on The Price is Right & Secret Life of Us) joined the band in time to support (the recently released from jail) Arthur Lee & Love in early 2003. He also helped pulled together the recording of the breakthrough album for the Sand Pebbles, Ghost Transmissions.

Originally Ghost Transmissions was to be released on Camera Obscura, however the label pulled out a week before the record was due to be pressed sighting the fact that the band had done their best to financially ruin them.

After supporting US freak beater Kelley Stoltz, the Pebbles were picked up by another boutique Melbourne label, Raoul Records (other artists included Stoltz and country songstress Lisa Miller). Ghost Transmissions proved the band's breakthrough record with songs like 'The Day Summer Fell', 'Big Left' and the 12-minute epic 'Black Sun Ensemble' getting heavy radio airplay. The record was also lauded by heroes like Luna's Dean Wareham and Spacemen 3's Sonic Boom.

The photos featured on the front and throughout the package were done by Scottish-born, US-based BMX champion Sandy Carson.

Atlantis Regrets Nothing was written and recorded throughout 2005 - produced amid births, marriages and a nervous breakdown. It featured collaborations with Galaxie 500, Luna and Dean & Britta frontman Dean Wareham and the Lurid Mist's David Graney.

It was late 2005 when Christmas Hollow and Ben Michael X were in Sydney mastering the record and they received a phone call.

Ono was replaced by 17-year-old singer/guitarist Tor Larsen from the drone outfit - Sun Blindness.

* How many bands in the Southern Hemisphere have had two Tor's in their line-up? It's true, the Sand Pebbles currently hold the record. Tor Fredheim resurfaced with Hobart power poppers Hey Mook sometime in the new millennium.

* Did you hang out with Arthur Lee? Guitarist Ben Michael X hung out with Arthur in the hotel spa after the show. He has been quoted as saying that 'Arthur was in control of all his faculties.'

* Has the Sand Pebbles toured? They've played one interstate show in Adelaide on federal election night 2004. The team the Pebbles were going for lost.

* Is Eastern Terrace named after the Chinese Restaurant in Glenferrie Road? Yes, Chris and Ben were driving to meet with the Camera Obscura label boss and still didn't have a name for the record.

The name? Was it from the Steve McQueen film? Yes, Sand Pebbles was a 1966 film starring Steve McQueen and Candice Bergen. At least two other acts have been known as "Sandpebbles" one a 60s American soul group on Calla Records famed for tracks like 'Psychedelic Technicolour Dream' and 'Love Power' (later re-made by Luther Vandross) before changing their name to C and the Shells.

Another is the 70s Sandpebbles of Barbados who had LPs like 'Enjoy Yourself' (featuring 'Hold the Pussy') and 'Sweet Barbados' on Pebblegroove Records

Ben Michael X was a child acting star - his most iconic role as one of the kids on the 70s 'Hector the Cat - look right, look left, look right again' traffic safety ads...

Andrew Tanner once wrote a song with actor Jeff Bridges and guitarist T-Bone Burnett after a Hollywood party. It was Dylanesque.

As a kid Christmas Hollow won a handball competition on Channel Ten's Early Bird Show with Daryl Cotton and Marty the Monster. As a consequence he played AFL football with St Kilda...

As a 16-year-old Piet Collins re-taught original Masters Apprentices' drummer Brian Vaughton how to play Vaughton's own buzzsaw fills to the Masters' awesome debut single 'Undecided'. It ended in triumph. Script idea?

As a teen Murray Ono ran away from home to join the navy band. Once, on a furlough, he met a guy called 'Vernon'. They jammed together. Vernon (later to be known as David Koresh of Waco, Texas) finger tapped lead guitar through every moment of every song. Ono let him.