Regurgitator has been blurring rock and electronica since 1994 and as the band prepares to release new material – and tour nationally in September – the band’s bassist Ben Ely told FasterLouder about his favourite Regurgitator moments.

10. FIRST HEARING OUR SONGS ON THE RADIO
Going all the way back to 1994 I recall the first time Quan and I heard our music being played on the radio. Triple R or Triple J maybe I can’t remember… We were in an Op shop in Saint Kilda on tour with Front End Loader and we heard Couldn’t Do It coming out of the little stereo speakers and it freaked us out so much that we had to run out of the shop. We were kinda excited and scared at the same time.

9. FIRST OVERSEAS TOUR
The first time I went overseas was with our band and we toured through Europe and Japan on the way home. My little country bumkin eyes were firmly glued back as I took in the sights of Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam with very little cash we resourcefully stole the headliners rider to stop ourselves from starving while at the same time saving our per diems so we could buy Doctor Martin’s boots as our Converse sneakers just weren’t cutting it in the European snow. It was a great tour apart from the near fist fight we had with each other at the gates of Dacau Prison Camp in Germany…

8. RECORDING OUR FIRST ALBUM
Recording our first album Tu Plang in the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand… consumed by a hideous fever staggering along a dirt road being surrounded by rabid feral street dogs that you had to ward off with a large stick was a career high light for me… good to look back on.
Oh so was the three feet wide moth that would swoop down trying to eat your face on the walk home after recording. These moments I will cherish for ever.

7. TOURING JAPAN
Our manager Paul was interested in Japanese culture and always pushed the idea of us going to Japan and once we toured there we fell in love with the place. I even remember crying when I had to leave once… what a sook! There is this magazine called Snoozer Magazine in Japan that runs stories in their rag about bands and then they have a club night where they will play the music that they mention in their articles. Anyway they did these club shows and asked us to be a guest band at their disco parties and I have to say that it was amazing !!!

People would come along to these club nights dressed in matching outfits and do synchronised dance moves… they were such great shows and it was kinda fun doing gigs with DJs instead of bands, F U N.

6. PLAYING WITH MIDNIGHT OIL
Midnight Oil were playing a dawn protest gig at the proposed sight of the Jabiluka uranium mine and asked us to come along and show our support. On our way through the Kakadu National Park I remember driving a hired Holden station wagon through a flooded crocodile infested river with the water lapping up against the windshield when the car stalled. No one in the car wanted to get out and push as we were to scared of death by crocodiles… thankfully the car started and we had a great gig. Peter Garrett and the Oils were amazing. Great cause, top gig!!!. I remember Quan crying [as he was so moved by their show] as the cops pulled up in an attempt to shut down the peaceful protest.

5.FLYING IN A HELICOPTER
Flying in a hired helicopter [hired by our A&R man] over the skyline of Manhattan after securing a deal with Warner Music US to release our first album was an exciting time for us… we were young and it felt like anything was possible… which it evidently wasn’t for us… though I feel no sadness in saying this.

4. FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL
After touring in Japan for nearly ten years we finally reached the holy grail of gigs to play in the entire world. Fuji Rock Festival… wow what a line up… Brian Eno, Boredoms, Neil Young, Eminem and Alanis Morissette even. Sheessh do the Japanese know how to throw a party!!! We had finally made it. Such an amazing festival and I recommend anyone going at least once in your lifetime.

3. BAND IN THE BUBBLE
While we were on tour in England we decided to do the brilliant idea of recording our next album in a glass bubble in public. Kinda like an art installation slash busking adventure. We had been together for a while now and we needed some spice in our lives.

The idea spiraled out of control and almost out of our hands as we were under constant surveillance by Channel [V] TV cameras night and day. There was some magic moments however… the pillow head orchestra, the guitar duel at noon, the genital glass rubbing episodes as well as the loss of any dignity, and mental stability we had was lost during our 3 weeks of incarceration… woo hoo fun times.

2. AKIRA
We recently composed and performed an alternative score to the Japanese Manga film Akira at the Sydney Opera House to a sold out show. Now I maybe putting this in as it is so fresh in my mind but it was really super fun!

The night before the show was about to take place computers crashed and hard drives stalled and it looked like the two/three months we had spent working on the damn thing wasn’t going to happen. Quan saved the day staying up until four in the morning setting the systems right and on the day everything went to plan… Phew… big screens, Japanese animation and loud distorted d-tuned guitars do go well nicely together.

1. BIG DAY OUT
Big Day Out is such a great festival and has to be number one for us.
It’s the biggest crowds we have ever played to and the most fun on tour
ever hands down. All of my fondest memories stem back to those tours we did though the first time we played Sydney BDO I tore the crotch in my pants as I was so excited. I didn’t realise it at the time until a girl and her friends in the front row pointed it out. Soooooo humiliated though that’s how it goes… the highs ‘n’ lows of playing in
a band.

FasterLouder presents Regurgitator tour:
Wednesday 15th September – Republic Bar, Hobart
Thursday 16th September – The Gov, Adelaide
Friday 17th September – The Hi-Fi, Melbourne
Saturday 18th September – the Tivoli, Brisbane
Sunday 19th September – Great Northern, Byron
Wednesday 22nd September – Hotel Gearin, Katoomba
Thursday 23rd September – The Maram, Canberra
Friday 24th September – Uni Bar, Wollongong
Saturday 25th September – Manning Bar, Sydney
Sunday 26th September – Walkington Theatre, Karratha
Monday 27th September – Amplifier Bar, Perth