Regurgitator

Regurgitatorare an Australian alternative rock band fromBrisbane,Queensland, formed in late 1993 byQuan Yeomanson lead vocals, guitar and keyboards;Ben Elyon bass guitar, keyboards and vocals; and Martin Lee on drums.Their debut studio album,Tu-Plangwas released in May 1996; it was followed byUnitin November 1997 which was certified tripleplatinum.Unitwon five categories at theARIA Music Awards of 1998:Album of the Year, Best Alternative Album,Producer of the Year(forMagoo),Engineer of the Year(Magoo) andBest Cover Art(forThe Shits). Their third album,...Artwas released in August 1999.
Regurgitator had two singles reach the top 20 with "Polyester Girl" (May 1998) peaking at No. 14 in Australia and No. 16 in New Zealand; while "Happiness (Rotting My Brain)" (July 1999) also appeared at No. 16 in New Zealand. Martin Lee left Regurgitator in late 1999 and was replaced byPeter Kosticon drums, who was simultaneously a member ofFront End Loader(1991–present) and theHard-Ons(2002–2011). Casual members have includedSeja Vogel, fromSekiden; Shane Rudken (Ponyloaf); Dave Atkins (Pangaea, Resin Dogs) among others. Regurgitator's fourth studio album,Eduardo and Rodriguez Wage War on T-Wreckswas released in July 2001 and was their final studio album for Warner before mutually agreeing to terminate their recording agreement. They then went on to issue four more independent studio albums—Mish Mash!recorded as part of the multimedia reality show parodyBand in a Bubble;Love and Paranoiarecorded in Rio de Janeiro onCorcovadoafter licensing theBand in a Bubbleproject to a US version staged in New York City;Super Happy Fun Times Friendsrecorded over three weeks in their home studio; andDirty Pop Fantasyrecorded in a Hong Kong apartment before announcing an extended hiatus in December 2013. They commenced playing shows again in mid-2015. Recording at 'Greg's Byron Bay & Wild Mountain Sound resulted in ninth albumHeadroxxreleased in 2018. In 2022 work began on new music which came to beInvaderreleased April 2024.
The group's spin-off projectRegurgitator's Pogogo Showreleased their debut album ofchildren's musicin 2019.
Regurgitator was originally a 3-pieceindie rockbandwith Quan Yeomans (guitar and vocals), Ben Ely (bass and vocals) and Martin Lee (drums).The three had purportedly met on a bus in inner Brisbane. At this time, all three were already in several bands - Pangaea, Zooerastia, Precision Oiler, Brazilia among others. Regurgitator at this time was not considered to be the main focus of any members, rather as a side-project to their other bands.
The band released itsdebut self-titled EPin October 1994. With the emergence of Brisbane's underground music scene in the early 1990s, major labels, such asWarner Music Group, took the initiative to expand its Australian music roster. A&R representative Michael Parisi initially pursuedPangaea, a popular and established band in Brisbane's underground that Ben Ely fronted. It wasn't until Parisi was supplied with Pangaea recordings by their manager Paul Curtis that he discovered Regurgitator, whose material was also presented as part of a potential Valve label P&D deal. Ironically, Parisi would push for the less-established band to be signed because "it was the hook that Pangaea, for all the excitement [it] had generated on stage, had lacked."
The band signed with Warner early in 1995, who re-released its debut EP in February 1995, which charted at number 45 on the ARIA singles chart. Regurgitator quickly released another EP, titledNew, which featured radio hits "Track 1" and "Blubber Boy".Newpeaked at number 30 on the ARIA singles chart.
Following the success of their first two EPs, the band made an unusual move by travelling to Thailand to record their first full-length album. Made on a comparatively small budgetat a famed pop studio inBangkok,Tu-Plang(ตู้เพลง; Thai for 'Jukebox'), largely featured a mixture ofrock and hip hop, which was particularly evident on its third single release "Kong Foo Sing". The band also experimented in a number of genres includingtechno,musak,surf rockanddub. Yeomans gained notoriety for his uniquely cynical and obscene lyrical style, most notably the controversial pop-rock tune "I Sucked a Lot of Cock to Get Where I Am", which was attacked by Australian radio identityAlan Jones, who campaigned to have it removed from airplay.Tu-Plangpeaked at number 3 on the ARIA Charts, was certified platinum and wonBest Alternative ReleaseandBreakthrough Artistat theARIA Music Awards of 1996.
The band recorded their second studio album in a warehouse in Brisbane which they affectionately named "The Dirty Room". In contrast with their rock-oriented works of the past, the band moved on with a more electronic and pop based sound. The band openly acknowledged their stylistic change with the album's opening track, ironically titled "I Like Your Old Stuff Better Than Your New Stuff". The band released "Everyday Formula" as the first single, with Yeomans and Magoo later admitting it was a conscious decision to ease their fans into the new sound with a heavier track.The single release in October 1997 peaked at number 41 on the ARIA Charts.Unitwas released in November and peaked at number 4 on the ARIA Charts. "Black Bugs", "Polyester Girl" and "! (The Song Formerly Known As)" (an homage to 1980s eraPrince) were all released as singles and gained significant amounts of airplay.Unitis Regurgitator's most commercially successful album, going platinum three times in Australia. Whilst it no doubt increased the popularity of the band, fans of their first generation of work are still divided in their responses to it.
During the Unit tour in late 1997 drummer Martin Lee had failed to appear at a show at theUniversity of Western Australia. After disappearing from aPerthnightclub, he was found the next day, unconscious, and was taken to hospital where he remained comatose for a week. No-one, including Lee once he had recovered, had any recollection of the circumstances that had landed him there.Jon Coghillof Brisbane rock bandPowderfingerwas his fill-in for the rest of the tour, though the arrangement purportedly caused a rift between the two bands as Coghill and Lee were high school friends and, as Yeomans explained in a 2011 interview, "...those guys (Powderfinger) are kind of from a different scene I guess, if you like. Almost a different social strata in a weird way; they're all private school boys so we never had that much in common".
At theARIA Music Awards of 1998,Unitwon 5Awards, includingAlbum of the YearandProducer of the Year.
After a short break in 1998 working with respective side projects (Quan formedHappylandwith Spiderbait's Janet English and Ben Ely revivedPangaea) the band moved into Wategoes Beachhouse atByron Bayon theNew South Walescoast to begin recording their third album,...art, which was released in August 1999 and peaked at number 2 on the ARIA Chart. Having rebuilt "The Dirty Room" studio with the assumption it would be used for the recording, Lee felt undervalued when Yeomans made it clear he needed a change in working environment.Ely admitted that tension had always existed between the two.Since theUnitsessions he had felt excluded from the creative process as his material would rarely be used and he was often replaced by a drum machine in the studio.After an extended absence during the album recording and a string of absences on the supporting tour schedule it was announced in late 1999 that Lee would be leaving the group due to 'creative differences'.He formedThe Boat Showwith Matthew Strong ofCustardwhen Custard disbanded.Lee was replaced byFront End LoaderandHard-Onsdrummer, Peter Kostic in late 1999.
The band's fourth album,Eduardo and Rodriguez Wage War on T-Wreckswas released in July 2001; a hip-hop-focused album that Yeomans and Ely recorded and produced in London. At this time, a turbulent relationship commenced with the Warner label who were unable to grasp the band's lack of motivation and refusal to compromise for the sake of commercial success.After the fourth album, discussions led to a mutual request to end the deal, and the compilation albumJingleswas released.
In 2004, Regurgitator created and participated in theBand in a Bubbleproject; a new reality TV-inspired media stunt sponsored and broadcast by Australian music channel,Channel V. The band entered a small glass recording studio, built inFederation Squarein the centre ofMelbourne, to record their new album; their first on new labelValve Records. Pedestrians could look into most rooms of the "bubble" and could watch the band work, or tune into a 24-hour digital cable television channel and watch their work on that. Nobody could enter or leave the bubble, a laBig Brother. In addition to the three band members, their longtime Australian producerMagoo, engineer Hugh Webb and Channel V hostJabbawere all also locked into the bubble with the band.
The first single from the session was released in October 2004 as "The Drop" and the album,Mish Mash!was released in November 2004 and it peaked at number 52 on the ARIA Charts.
In August 2005, the band released the#?*!(orPillowhead) EP which contained B-sides fromMish Mash!.
Regurgitator took a break in 2006, during which time Ely began working on his projectJump 2 Light Speedand Yeomans worked on establishing a solo career. The band also licensed theirBand in a Bubbleconcept to Initial TV in the UK. In 2007, Yeomans released an EP with Sydney-based musician Spod called Blox.
In 2007, the band reunited and recorded their sixth album inRio de Janeiro, Brazil.Love and Paranoiawas released in Australia on 15 September 2007 and peaked at number 74. It features 80s style keyboard-driven poprock tunes, with new memberSeja Vogelon keyboards. Two singles were released from the album, "Blood and Spunk" and "Romance of the Damned".
In 2008, Regurgitator supported the album with a tour of UK and Asia. It was the first time in 5 years that the band had toured the UK. Simultaneously, Ben Ely andQuan Yeomansboth launched solo projects with "Ben Ely's Radio 5" becoming his second solo project while Yeomans's albumQuan: The Amateurwas his debut solo album which was recorded in Hong Kong.
At the beginning of May 2010, Regurgitator announced on the news section of their website that they had begun work on new music and would release music 'as they go along' instead of an album.In August 2010, the band released the single "Making No Sense"and in September, a four-track EP titledDistractions. In December 2010, the band released another single titled, "Nrob Bmud".
In July 2011, the band released "One Day", the lead single from their seventh studio albumSuper Happy Fun Times Friendsin August 2011. The album debuted on the AIR chart at No. 18 and the ARIA chart at No. 91.
In June 2012, it was announced that Regurgitator would be playing their first two albums,Tu PlangandUnit, in their entirety in an Australian tour namedRetroTech.
In early 2013, the band announced that they were working on their eighth studio album in Hong Kong. EntitledDirty Pop Fantasy, the album was released on 6 September 2013 through Valve Records. The album was streamed online on 23 August 2013 on the Deezer website.During the band's keynote address at the Big Sound music conference in early September 2013, the band explained that the lower level of productivity during the latter part of their career is due to the geographical spread of the two primary band members, Ely and Yeomans—Ely is based in Melbourne, Australia, while Yeomans resides in Hong Kong. A post on the band's Facebook page on 18 September 2013 then revealed that Regurgitator will enter a period of indefinite hiatus following a national Australian and Asian tour that ended in December 2013 due to the birth of Yeomans's first child.Their last show for the foreseeable future was in Beijing on 7 December 2013 as part of the Converse Rubber Tracks event with touring friends Chinese band New Pants.
In May 2015, following an 18 month hiatus commencing in September 2013, Regurgitator announced their Cheap Imitations tour-ché across Australia from August to September 2015.
In April 2016, they performed at theNational Gallery of Victoriacovering Velvet Underground's debut album,The Velvet Underground and Nicoas part of the Andy Warhol-Ai Weiwei exhibition.Regurgitator's line-up was Yeomans, Ely, Kostic and joined by Seja Vogel on keyboards/vocals and Mindy Meng Wang onguzheng.In homage to Prince, they added a cover of his song, "When Doves Cry" to their set list on 22 April.
In October 2017, Regurgitator performed a special one-off show at theGold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centreas a part ofEB Games Expo, celebrating the 20th anniversary of their 1997 album Unit. The concert was also filmed and was later released on DVD in 2019.
2018 saw the release of the band's 9th studio album,Headroxx.
In 2019, the group announced their newchildren's musicspin-off projectRegurgitator's Pogogo Show. Their debut offering,The Really Really Really Really Boring Albumwas released on 1 March 2019.At theARIA Music Awards of 2019,The Really Really Really Really Boring Albumwas nominated forBest Children's Album.
In October 2019, the group released a best of album titledQuarter Pounder: 25 Years of Being Consumed, alongside a national tour. In May 2023, Regurgitator toured around Australia for 25 years ofUnit, withCustard,DZ Deathrays,Butterfingers&Glitoris. In October of that same year, they opened forWeezerfor their two headlining Australian shows in early October 2023. The two bands also supportedKissat their last Australian concert atAccor Stadiumin Sydney.
In 2024, Regurgitator announced their 11th studio albumInvader. A supporting tour began soon after the album's release. TheIt's So Invasive Tourstarted in Hobart, Tasmania, and ended in Cairns, Queensland, with 23 dates. Supporting acts across the tour included Party Dozen, the Subculture Clique, Displeasure,Cry Club, Wolfpack, Monster Zoku Onsomb!, and Dubbzone.
Current members
Current touring musicians
Former members
Former touring musicians
Guest musicians
The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally asAIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. They commenced in 2006.
TheARIA Music Awardsare annual awards, which recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres ofAustralian music. Regurgitator have won 7 awards from 23 nominations.
TheHelpmann Awardsis an awards show, celebrating live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry groupLive Performance Australiasince 2001.Note: 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.