78 Saab

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78 Saab
From left: Garth, Nicholai, Ben, Jake
Origin	Canberra, Australia
Years active	1995-present
Genres	Rock, Alternative rock, Indie-rock, dream pop
Labels	Troy Horse Records, Ivy League Records
Members	Benjamin Nash Nicholai Danko Jake Andrews Garth Tregillgas

78 Saab is an Australian rock band, comprising Ben Nash (guitar, vocals), Jake Andrews (lead guitar), Garth Tregillgas (bass) and Nicholai Danko (drums). The band compare themselves to Neil Young, REM and The Rolling Stones as well as Australian bands Died Pretty and The Church^[1]. Forming in Canberra, they have been based in Sydney since early 1997.

1 Early History
2 The Winterman & Goldstein Era
3 First Album
4 Second Album
5 Other Projects
6 Footnotes
7 References

[edit] Early History

The band was formed at ANU – by Nash, Tregillgas and the since departed Darren Smith and Christovac Thompson - to perform in the ACCA Campus Band Competition, the name coming from the car that Nash drove at the time. “I used to own a 1978 Saab which I bought off my grandparents for around a-thousand bucks when I was at university”, explained Nash, in a later interview, “Anyway, we entered a band competition [at Uni] and we had about 3 hours to come up with a name. ‘78 Saab’ got thrown in the ring and for better or worse we’ve stuck with that name.”^[2]

At the time, the major sponsor of the competition was Sydney business, Troy Horse, a recording and rehearsal studio with a record label attached. The winning band was awarded an EP - recorded and released by Troy Horse - and a 40-date national tour of campuses.

Upon winning the competition, 78 Saab recorded their debut EP, “Eastwards By Removal” for Troy Horse Records^[3]. Other winners from that era included Perth bands Eskimo Joe and Jebediah^[4]. "Eastwards By Removal" was released in August 1997^[5]

It was at this time that Jake Andrews became a member of the band, after original guitarist Smith made the decision not to tour due to a medical condition. ^[6].

As referred to in the title of the EP, 78 Saab moved due East from Canberra to Sydney at this time. It was in Sydney that Nicholai Danko joined the fray, with drummer Thompson having left the band after the campus tour was completed. Danko had first encountered 78 Saab as a student at CSU Riverina during their campus tour.

[edit] The Winterman & Goldstein Era

78 Saab were among the first group of bands to work with the Winterman & Goldstein group of companies, a management company with an attached record label, Ivy League Records. “We released some fantastic Australian singles and albums by our favourite Australian bands and friends – Youth Group, 78 Saab, Hoolahan, The John Reed Club & The Monarchs to name…well, all of them actually”, reads the official Ivy League site, referring the label’s origins^[7]. The label was created largely to release the bands of the company directors – namely Youth Group, John Reed Club and, later, The Monarchs. 78 Saab were the first band to give them notoriety in a purely management role, something they would later build on with bands such as Jet and The Vines.

The first releases on Ivy League were the two-track single, “Whatever Makes You Happy”, the five-track EP “Hello Believers” and a later re-pressing of the EP, which features all seven songs.

This material was recorded and co-produced by Michael Carpenter, a musician with local power-pop band, The Pyramidiacs. “Hello Believers” featured the first involvement of Robert F. Cranny as an occasional keyboardist.^[8]The EP was listed at #93 in the Oz Music Project “Top 100 Australian Albums of the 90s”^[9].

[edit] First Album

In 1999, 78 Saab would have their first encounter with producer, Tim Whitten (Art Of Fighting, Gaslight Radio, Gersey), who recorded the track “Sunshine” as a summer single at Megaphon Studios in Sydney. However, the rest of the band’s debut album would be recorded with Greg Wales (Sandpit) in St. Kilda^[10]. The album, entitled “Picture a hum, can’t hear a sound” was released in 2000 on Ivy League Records, and received rotation on JJJ with “Sunshine”, “Smile”, “Jack Frost” and most notably, “Karma Package Deal”. Tregillgas was credited as G. Surls on the album, an in-joke referring to his occasionally acerbic demeanour. Unfortunately, the album went out of print in 2003.^[11].

[edit] Second Album

The band’s second album, “Crossed Lines”, was released in October 2004, after a considerable hiatus from the studio. By this time the group had been playing without a keyboardist for some years. They had toured Australia numerous times in support of their debut LP, but had also spent considerable time renegotiating a deal with Ivy League Records. Having split from Winterman & Goldstein – essentially the management arm of the same company – the group considered offers from other labels before eventually signing back on with their old label ^[12]

Recorded with Tim Whitten, the album sandwiched alternative rock songs between more epic dream pop-influenced numbers. ^[13]. Singles from the album included “Beat Of Your Drum” – as a preliminary EP release – and “No Illusions”, which would give the band its biggest taste of commercial radio play.

78 Saab are currently selecting songs and demoing for their third album.^[14].

[edit] Other Projects

Ben Nash has collaborated with Adalita from Magic Dirt and performed live with her during the “Tough Love” tour, which featured 78 Saab supporting Magic Dirt^[15].

Drummer, Nicholai Danko, has performed live with The Tucker Bs and The For Fuck’s Sakes, and has recorded with Josh Pyke and Sarah Blasko, whom he played live with in 2003.