Arriving on the Brisbane music scene in mid 1998, Empty Quarter has managed to secure a vibrant and enthusiastic fan base with their live shows showcasing their pop/rock sound. Tired of playing 'other peoples music' and fueled with a desire for a creative outlet, Brett Ross (guitar, vocals) teamed up with Damien Moorhouse (bass) and begun chiseling away at common vision to create a contemporary, distinctive sound influenced by their collective musical and environmental experiences.

The two presented their vision and initial sketches to Damien's long time friend, David Walker (drums) who immediately saw the potential in these early songs and thus Empty Quarter was born. The band initially avoided obvious song style and love songs, preferring to sing about sometimes quirky topics, such as drinking at your local, DaDa artists, crazy sheiks, exotic dancers, professional killers and modern medicine.

In early 1999 the band started playing in the live music scene in Brisbane, performing in venues such as The Railway Hotel, The Gabba Hotel, Melbourne Hotel and various private functions. Although they started gathering a following, the members felt that something wasn't quite right with their sound.

The solution came in early 2000, after a long search, with the addition of Russell Napier (guitarist/vocalist). This added a stronger melodic element to the sound, particularly in the live sense, and freed up lead vocalist Brett Ross to concentrate on his stage presence. With the line-up complete, Empty Quarter re-recorded some earlier studio recordings and added some new tracks, thus completing their first EP, Puff, the Magic Wagon.

At the beginning of 2001 the band took a hiatus for a month while two of the band members finalised the artwork for the EP. The EP Puff, the Magic Wagon is currently available as an independent release. With the CD in tow, the band started working hard again, playing weekly all over Brisbane from Browns Plains (Browns Plains Hotel) to Bracken Ridge (The Rum Jungle) and numerous places in-between, including Paddington (Music Platform), the city (Transcontinental, The Plough Inn), and the Valley (Bonapartes).

Their live shows at these venues always drew an enthusiastic crowd of revelers. The reviews the band garnered at this time have been both positive and encouraging as exampled by their review by Brispop, where the band was described as a schizophrenic mix ranging in style from Weezer power/pop through to The Ramones style punk and At the Drive-in hard rock... all done in an endearing way. (www.brispop.com)

Although Empty Quarter has only been playing Brisbane for several years, the members of Empty Quarter have been creating noise for a far greater time.

Information from

• Australian Music Online

Record number

435

References

• http://www.mono.netmono.net

Updated

23 March 2003

To cite this page

http://nla.gov.au/nla.cs-ma-NAMO~435