ill Starred captain and their adventures from 2000 - 2014
“ill Starred Captain’ are a dynamic two piece band hailing from Port Lincoln on the West Coast of South Australia, “who have in the thirteen years of their existence, utterly transcended both their humble indie origins, and the accepted limitations of what a singer/guitarist and drummer can sound like”. Scott Bassham (guitar/vocals) & Justin Francis (drums) have spent over a decade on the road honing their sound and gathering a passionate FAN-BASE around the world. “WOODEN WIRE’, VOICELESS SONGS BY ILL STARRED CAPTAIN isTHE BANDS LATEST E.P. RELEASE, performing instrumental songs that allow the LISTENER to create lyrics from what the sound evokes in ones mind. Available now through their Seawitch Music label that was founded in Port Lincoln in the year 2000 enabling live music tours, Studio recordings and an opportunity for the bands music to become available on their terms. ill starred captain's second album ‘Black Swan Eye’ from 2010 has RECEIVED a positive response to a sound often described by the band themselves as a Folk/Punk/Surfedelic hybrid”. In ACTUALITY it goes well beyond easy categorization, with strong threads of blues, roots, funk and sheer rock and roll power grooves running through the mix. FOUR FILM CLIPS WERE DIRECTED BY JUSTIN FRANCIS & SCOTT BASSHAM TO ACCOMPANY THE RELEASE OF ‘BLACK SWAN EYE“.
iLL sTARRED caPTAIN'S first album, ‘Yeh Nah” was released to widespread critical acclaim and saw them tour Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom in 2004 before the official Australian release in 2005. “Yeh -Nah” was also one of a select few Australian albums to be archived by A.R.I.A. in 2005 and was voted one of the top five releases of that year in the Adelaide Advertiser’s Critics Awards.
One of the albums tracks, ‘Trouble’ was also included onto a music compilation C.D. by ‘Ejector Seat Music’ in Southampton, England and was a highlight of that otherwise all - British collection. The band RECEIVED great reviews in the United Kingdom for their live shows and recorded music in such publications as God Is in The T.V & SOUTH-SCENE in Southampton.
in the year 2000 ill Starred Captain began touring constantly between Australia & Ireland to record AND RELEASE their debut E.P., ‘BOTTLE-GREEN Sky’ in 2002. Inspiration led the way for two EARLIER video clips to be filmed with ‘Bitch Dust’, accompanying ‘BOTTLE-GREEN Sky’ & ‘Irish Hitch-Hiking’ for ‘Yeh-Nah’. Both video‘s were filmed in Ireland and South Australia, that still today are firm FAVORITES for ‘Ill Starred Captain’ fans.
Having shared stages with such greats as The Waifs, Ed Kuepper, Steve Kilbey, lEE kERNAGAN, Grinspoon, Ash Grunwald and Mammal. “ill Starred Captain‘ live shows are fast becoming a major DRAW CARD filling dance floors with their pounding rhythms and soaring melodies, as they perform over one hundred shows a year.
Music from ill Starred Captain recorded works has RECEIVED solid airplay with screenings of their film clips SEEN throughout the world, there WILL BE MORE FILM RELEASES THROUGHOUT 2014. With live to air performances on stations as diverse as PBS FM Melbourne, Three D & Radio Adelaide, B.B.C. Northern Ireland Belfast & Derry, as well as airplay on Nova FM and Triple J in Australia.
This trend is continuing to help Ill Starred Captain‘into the international music consciousness as their story becomes word of mouth. ”ill Starred Captain’s’ original music has been Influenced by and compared to such greats as “The Saints”, “Johnny Cash”, “The Go Betweens”, and ‘Led Zeppelin” AMONG many others with British music magazine, “God Is In The T.V.” Declaring that
“ill Starred Captain is what happens when the White Stripes, start sounding like, White Album - era Beatles”.
Their passion for dynamic and exciting original music, their sense of humour and natural Aussie exuberance will undoubtedly carry “ill Starred Captain’ from strength to strength inTO 2014 and beyond. It’s good to know in this age of instant stardom, that they are out there somewhere travelling down a dark desert road, creating music that is thrilling, beautiful and “As real as it gets.”