David McCormack
Encyclopedia
David McCormack is an Australian musician and singer-songwriter who fronted Brisbane
-based rock group Custard
(1989–1999, 2009).
suburb of Kenmore and attended Ipswich Grammar School
. He started his musical career as a vocalist and guitarist in Brisbane rock
outfit, Who's Gerald?, in 1986, which included school friends Paul Medew on bass guitar and Glen Donald on keyboards, they recruited Cathy Atthow on drums. They released a cassette
, Who's Gerald's Greatest Hits in the same year on their own Gerald Corp Records. In March 1988 they released a single, "Wrestle Wrestle" and had the track, "Pins and Needles" on that year's Youngblood compilation
. Atthow, McCormack and Medew briefly formed Automatic Graphic in 1988 with Scott Younger.
Custard existed for about a decade, with a number of different drummers, including, Gavin Herrenberg, John Lowry and Glenn Thompson
, (later of The Go-Betweens
). The band released five studio albums: Buttercup/Bedford, Wahooti Fandango, Wisenheimer, We Have the Technology and Loverama, a number of EPs and singles and a greatest hits compilation entitled Goodbye Cruel World. A DVD video clip compilation called The Spaces by the Side of the Road - A Digital History of Custard was released in 2007.
of Midnight Oil
on drums—50 copies were issued.
McCormack, Moore and Thompson recorded with Robert Forster
(ex-The Go-Betweens
) for his second solo album, Calling from a Country Phone
, released in 1993 and toured with Forster as Silver Backwash. Frank 'n' Stein from 1995 had Moore and McCormack join with his brother Dylan McCormack (ex-Biro) and Ian Wadley. Miami, also from 1995, had Maureen Hansen (also in COW and McCormack's then girlfriend), Nick Naughton on drums and Medew. Miami released two CDs: Costume of Sand (March 1997) and Feel the Seed (1998). Computor was another collaboration between McCormack and Moore, which was electronic sounding and released a tape called Floppy Disk.
(newspaper journalist for The Australian
) and Thompson and film-maker, Tina Havelock-Stevens. The Titanics released Size Isn't Everything (2000) and Love Is The Devil (September 2000).
Custard reformed for a concert on 10 December 2009, as part of the Queensland Proclamation Day, 150th Anniversary Celebrations.
In November 2006, David assembled a band to perform a concert at the Tivoli in Brisbane as a tribute for the late Grant McLennan of The Go-Betweens
.
In early 2007, David then went into the studio to produce a tribute album to the Go-Betweens called "Write Your Adventures Down". Sony BMG released the album.
Dave has also managed to compose two film scores. Firstly he worked on Alex Proyas's gritty Sydney polemic Garage Days in 2002, and in 2006 Daniel Krige's West.
In October 2009, David released the long awaited new album "Little Murders" which contains 20 tracks and runs for almost an hour. The name comes from a 1969 film.
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
-based rock group Custard
Custard (band)
-Overview:The band were originally known as Custard Gun and featured David McCormack on vocals and guitar, Paul Medew on bass, James Straker on guitar and Shane Brunn on drums. After a few shows and line up changes Custard Gun morphed into Custard...
(1989–1999, 2009).
Early groups
David McCormack was born in 1968 in the BrisbaneBrisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
suburb of Kenmore and attended Ipswich Grammar School
Ipswich Grammar School
Ipswich Grammar School is an independent, non-denominational, day and boarding school for boys, located in Ipswich, a city situated on the Bremer River in South East Queensland, Australia...
. He started his musical career as a vocalist and guitarist in Brisbane rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
outfit, Who's Gerald?, in 1986, which included school friends Paul Medew on bass guitar and Glen Donald on keyboards, they recruited Cathy Atthow on drums. They released a cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
, Who's Gerald's Greatest Hits in the same year on their own Gerald Corp Records. In March 1988 they released a single, "Wrestle Wrestle" and had the track, "Pins and Needles" on that year's Youngblood compilation
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
. Atthow, McCormack and Medew briefly formed Automatic Graphic in 1988 with Scott Younger.
Custard
In 1989, McCormack and Medew formed Custard Gun with Shane Brunn (later in Hugbubble, Vanlustbader) on drums and James Straker (later in Melniks). After a number of performances, Straker left in early 1990, the band was renamed as Custard, and Straker was replaced at year's end by Matthew Strong on guitar.Custard existed for about a decade, with a number of different drummers, including, Gavin Herrenberg, John Lowry and Glenn Thompson
Glenn Thompson (musician)
Glenn Thompson was born in Albury NSW Australia in 1964. He is a musician who first came to prominence in Brisbane QLD playing in the popular local bands Madam Bones Brothel with Pearly Black and John Rodgers, and COW with Robert Moore and David McCormack. Thompson played drums with Robert Forster...
, (later of The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens were an indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Australia in 1977 by singer-songwriters and guitarists, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan. They were later joined by Lindy Morrison on drums, Robert Vickers on bass guitar and Amanda Brown on violin, oboe, guitar, and backing vocals,...
). The band released five studio albums: Buttercup/Bedford, Wahooti Fandango, Wisenheimer, We Have the Technology and Loverama, a number of EPs and singles and a greatest hits compilation entitled Goodbye Cruel World. A DVD video clip compilation called The Spaces by the Side of the Road - A Digital History of Custard was released in 2007.
Other 1990s bands
McCormack was moonlighting in other bands during the 1990s, which formed in and around Custard's practice rooms. The Cows from 1993 (later styled as COW or C.O.W. - for Country Or Western) had Thompson and Robert Moore on bass guitar; as well as Maureen Hansen on vocals, Susie Hansen on vocals and John Lowry on bass guitar by 1995. COW released Beard in June 1996. In 2006, McCormack and Moore collaborated on a new COW single called "The Chicken Dance" with Rob HirstRob Hirst
-External links:*******...
of Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil , were an Australian rock band from Sydney originally performing as Farm from 1972 with drummer Rob Hirst, bass guitarist Andrew James and keyboard player/lead guitarist Jim Moginie...
on drums—50 copies were issued.
McCormack, Moore and Thompson recorded with Robert Forster
Robert Forster (musician)
Robert Forster is an Australian singer-songwriter, best known for his work with songwriting partner Grant McLennan, with whom he co-founded The Go-Betweens.Forster grew up in Brisbane, Australia attending Brisbane Grammar School...
(ex-The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens were an indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Australia in 1977 by singer-songwriters and guitarists, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan. They were later joined by Lindy Morrison on drums, Robert Vickers on bass guitar and Amanda Brown on violin, oboe, guitar, and backing vocals,...
) for his second solo album, Calling from a Country Phone
Calling from a Country Phone
Calling from a Country Phone is the second album by Robert Forster.-Side one:#"Atlanta Lie Low" – 3:13#"121" – 3:28#"The Circle" – 3:45#"Falling Star" – 4:05#"I Want to Be Quiet" – 3:34-Side two:#"Cat's Life" – 3:52#"Girl to a World" – 4:18...
, released in 1993 and toured with Forster as Silver Backwash. Frank 'n' Stein from 1995 had Moore and McCormack join with his brother Dylan McCormack (ex-Biro) and Ian Wadley. Miami, also from 1995, had Maureen Hansen (also in COW and McCormack's then girlfriend), Nick Naughton on drums and Medew. Miami released two CDs: Costume of Sand (March 1997) and Feel the Seed (1998). Computor was another collaboration between McCormack and Moore, which was electronic sounding and released a tape called Floppy Disk.
After Custard
After the break-up of Custard in 2000, McCormack formed The Titanics with his then wife Emma TomEmma Tom
Emma Jane , previously known as Emma Tom, is an Australian media commentator.She writes a weekly column for The Australian newspaper and also makes regular appearances on Australian television and radio....
(newspaper journalist for The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
) and Thompson and film-maker, Tina Havelock-Stevens. The Titanics released Size Isn't Everything (2000) and Love Is The Devil (September 2000).
Custard reformed for a concert on 10 December 2009, as part of the Queensland Proclamation Day, 150th Anniversary Celebrations.
The Modern Day Lover
Following the breakup of The Titanics, Dave went solo. He released a CD of electronic doodling called The Matterhorn (2001). After that, Dave recruited a backing band called The Polaroids. David McCormack and The Polaroids have released two albums, Candy (2002) and The Truth About Love (2004) as well as a few singles and a DVD entitled Save Dave.In November 2006, David assembled a band to perform a concert at the Tivoli in Brisbane as a tribute for the late Grant McLennan of The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens were an indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Australia in 1977 by singer-songwriters and guitarists, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan. They were later joined by Lindy Morrison on drums, Robert Vickers on bass guitar and Amanda Brown on violin, oboe, guitar, and backing vocals,...
.
In early 2007, David then went into the studio to produce a tribute album to the Go-Betweens called "Write Your Adventures Down". Sony BMG released the album.
Dave has also managed to compose two film scores. Firstly he worked on Alex Proyas's gritty Sydney polemic Garage Days in 2002, and in 2006 Daniel Krige's West.
In October 2009, David released the long awaited new album "Little Murders" which contains 20 tracks and runs for almost an hour. The name comes from a 1969 film.