Plush (band)

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Plush
Chas Smith and Rory Eliot
Background information
Origin	Cape Town, South Africa
Genre(s)	Alternative rock, Acoustic Rock
Years active	2000–Present?
Label(s)	Us Productions
Members
Rory Eliot
Former members
Chas Smit

For the fabric, see Plush. For the Stone Temple Pilots song see Plush (song). See Liam Hayes for the musician from Chicago who records under the name Plush.

Plush is an acoustic rock band based in Cape Town, South Africa. Rory Eliot is lead vocalist and plays rhythm guitar, Chas Smit was lead guitarist and backing vocalist. Together they were described as "so unbelievably tight that they sound as though they are one masterful musician, playing two guitars, with four arms and one almighty voice". ⁽¹⁾ Additional members have performed and recorded with the band.

1 Members
2 Career
3 Death of Chas Smit
4 Rory's return
5 Discography
6 Notes
- 6.1 Footnotes
7 External links

[edit] Members

Rory Eliot was born in Durban in 1981. He began singing at age 8, got his first guitar at 15 and then combined music and words to create his first song Far Beyond, which is featured on their debut album. He studied dramatic art in Johannesburg at AFDA.

Now in 2006, Rory Eliot is playing again, solo. Touring through Cape Town, he plays at Rafiki's, Asoka and other cafés. On Friday 2 June, he released Plush's DVD at "A Tribute to Plush" at the BMW Pavillion, W&A Waterfront.

Chas Smit was born in Cape Town in 1982, and began playing guitar at the age of 8. He studied computer programming at the Zone in Johannesburg but it was music that made him come alive and he and Rory decided to put all their focus into developing the music of Plush. He was killed in a car accident on September 18 2005.

"Every time we step onto the stage, we share a piece of our soul and put all our energy into what we believe to be our destined journey."

[edit] Career

Plush have come a long way since joining the Maritzburg College band where their musical journey began. Performing together since 1996, Plush turned professional in 2000 and in 2002 won the National Battle of the Bands competition, against over 500 bands from across the country. The name "Plush" was given to them by Natal south coast fans who thought their performance was plush, a slang word meaning awesome. ⁽³⁾

Plush aim to bring something new to each gig, "push all the boundaries, just for the fun" (Like Planes), and to inspire their audience to follow their dreams, as suggested in the lyrics of Wishing Well.

As well as live performances, Plush have appeared on MTV in the United Kingdom, and had their music featured on two local television series: Going Nowhere Slowly and Bush Radar.

They launched their debut album, All That Is Should Be at the Independent Armchair Thearte in 2004, with huge success. ⁽¹⁾ 2004 also saw Plush touring extensively around South Africa, including opening the prestigious Kirstenbosch Summer concerts to over 5000 people.

In 2005 they completed their second album A Few Blinding Views, which included a full band accompaniment. The launch concert was held on August 15 at the Huguenot Hall, Cape Town.

[edit] Death of Chas Smit

On September 18 2005, after a gig that formed part of their national tour for A Few Blinding Views, Chas Smit was killed when he was hit by a speeding car. Rory was quoted by the Daily News as saying, "He was like a brother to me. I am not sure what the future holds for me, or for the band. I will have to think about it and what Chas would have wanted." ⁽²⁾ Soon after, the Plush website announced that the band will not be continuing.

Memorial services took place in Pietermaritzburg, Cape Town and London.

[edit] Rory's return

On 28 October, 2006, Plush's website announced that Rory Eliot would starting playing again, which he subsequently did. He plays simply under the name "Rory Eliot," starring many of the old Plush songs but also numerous new ones of his own making. Although he styles a solo act, his performances are accompanied by Ben Peters on the drums.

[edit] Discography

All That Is Should Be (released March 9 2004)

Trouble
Today
Like Planes
Erla
Fits of Life
Tainted
Iris
Damn the Fire
Tata Jozi Tata
Far Beyond
My Baby
Jet Life

A Few Blinding Views (released August 5 2005, Us Productions)

Today
What I'm thinking about
Wishing Well
Able
Postcard
Impressive Sun
Ta ta, Jozi, ta ta
I wonder of you
My Baby
Love away the days
Halo (live)
Sky Fire (live, unplugged)

A Few Blinding Views was produced by the Grammy nominated composer, drummer, arranger and producer, Cedric Samson and was engineered by Nic Els and mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound in New York.

The recording features Dominic Peters (bass & keyboards), Sean ou-Tim (drums & bass), Cedric Samson (drums and percussion) Waldo Alexander (violin), Eddie Mclean (cello), Simon Bates (sax), Ross McDonald (trombone) and Lee Thompson (trumpet) with Rory Eliot (lead vocal & rhythm guitar) and Chas Smit (lead guitar & backing vocal).