Deniz Tek
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| Deniz Tek | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States |
| Genre(s) | Hard rock, protopunk, garage rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, producer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1970s–present |
| Label(s) | WEA, Citadel |
| Associated acts | Radio Birdman, New Race, The Visitors, Sonic's Rendezvous Band, The Passengers |
| Website | www.deniztek.com |
Deniz Tek is a singer, guitarist and songwriter who is currently a member of Australian group Radio Birdman. He has been in many underground punk bands of the 1970's including The Visitors, and New Race, but is most known for his influence over the punk rock genre in Australia. He is also a noted Australian musician and former member of The Passengers.
Tek was raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. He spent 1967 in Australia with his parents and moved there permanently in 1972.
Deniz Tek is a trained ER doctor and navy pilot. Tek's navy codename 'Iceman' was appropriated by visiting screenwriters for a character in the hit movie Top Gun.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early years
Tek grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan a small city near Detroit where Tek was exposed to Motor City music icons such as MC5 and The Stooges. In the late '60s Ann Arbor became somewhat of a nexus for rock music, hosting festivals which drew performers from all around the world such as Pink Floyd, Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter, Captain Beefheart, and a personal favourite of Tek's, The Rolling Stones. Headlining world acts such as MC5, The Stooges, and The Rolling Stones aside, Tek was heavily influenced by the mushrooming local underground scene of Ann Arbor, which included bands such as The Frost, Mitch Ryder, Carnal Kitchen with Steve Mackay, The Up, The SRC, The Rationals plus jazz greats Pharaoh Sanders, Sun Ra, Archie Shepp and Yusef Lateef. In 1971 Tek left the rock metropolis of Ann Arbor to pursue his medical studies in Sydney, Australia.
[edit] 1972-73 with TV Jones
In late 1972 Tek had joined the band TV Jones as lead singer/guitarist along with Chris Jones on guitar, Gerry Jones on drums (brother of the now successful jazz horn player Vince Jones), Giles Vanderwerf on bass. TV Jones had a fanatical cult following in Wollongong, to the point where things got crazed and dangerous where by in 1974, the group fled north of the city. The band was hopeful of success, but amid disastrous engagements at Chequers and the Whisky A Go Go, ran afoul of both the police and organised crime simultaneously. After unsuccessful album recording sessions in North Sydney, the group began to disintegrate, sacking Tek from TV Jones as a negative influence.
[edit] 1974-78 with Radio Birdman
After being dismissed from TV Jones, Tek proceeded to form a new band with long time friend Rob Younger, with the addition of Chris Masuak, Warwick Gilbert, Pip Hoyle and Ron Keeley, and called themselves Radio Birdman. Radio Birdman were arguably the most successful band that Tek was associated with, despite the bands initial shunning from the Australian music scene. The Radio Birdman sound was unconventional and raw and echos the Motor City influences of Tek's youth. Birdman are often attributed with the initiation of the Australian indie rock scene, as after being repeatedly rejected from various clubs and bars in the Sydney area, Birdman took it upon themselves to record and release their first recording Radios Appear, and distribute it out the back of the band members station wagons. Radio Birdman began a world tour in 1977 travelling to England and playing a few shows around London as well as recording their second album Living Eyes, until in 1978 the band broke up mid-tour due to "personality conflict".
[edit] 1978-81 with The Visitors, Angie Pepper Band, and the New Race tour
Following the demise of Radio Birdman, Tek proceeded to experiment musically it several different bands. From 1978 to 1979 Deniz dabbled in a band called The Visitors with Deniz on guitar, Mark Sisto on vocals, Ron Keeley on drums, Pip Hoyle on keyboards and Steve Harris on bass. The band being 3/5ths Birdman members was often compared to the early sound that Birdman had, but with a new twist of the Sisto vocal which likened the sound to that of The Doors. During these years Tek had also committed to writing the songs for his to be wife Angie Pepper's new band The Angie Pepper Band after the breakup of her more successful band The Passengers. What has often been hailed as the ultimate Motor City supergroup New Race, was formed by Tek with fellow Birdman members Rob Younger, and Warwick Gilbert, along with guitarist from The Stooges, Ron Asheton, and the drummer of MC5, Dennis Thompson, for a once off tour along the east coast of Australia in 1981. The band performed to sold out shows and many bootleg recordings of the shows were made, which resulted in the formation of several bootleg releases. The only official live recording of the shows was released in 1982 by Birdman's Trafalgar Studios under the appropriate title of The First and Last.
[edit] The between years
He then moved back to America where he became a licensed physician, specialising his qualifications in emergency and aerospace medicine. He worked at Saint Vincent Healthcare in Billings Mt with Mike Bush M.D., the father of Pat Bush, the drummer for the metal band Cytation. He served time as a flight surgeon for the Marines, and for a while became a Marine Corps Aviator flying F/A-18 Hornets. While he was flying, his callsign of "Iceman" was noticed by producers of the Top Gun film and eventually appropriated for Val Kilmer's character in the film. [1]
[edit] 1991 with The Deniz Tek Group
Encouraged by his friend and ex-Birdman compadre Chris Masuak, Deniz came back to Australia in 1991, intent on renewing himself musically. He began extensive touring in 1992 and, following a near career destroying disaster on the Take It To The Vertical tour of 1992 initiated a line-up that became known as The Deniz Tek Group. This line-up spent the next few years touring Europe, Australia and the USA, while releasing a series of EPs and several albums. Things began to fray in late '96 and the group split up.
[edit] The re-unification of Radio Birdman
Radio Birdman reformed in January of 1996 with all original members, touring Australia extensively, including their participation in the 1996 Big Day Out Tour. Both critics and fans old and new feel that they more than lived up to the legend. They recorded a live album, Ritualism, which comprised of recordings taken throughout the tour. Initially it was only available by mail order on their own Crying Sun Records label, another low budget but high quality DIY project which is perfectly consistent with their earlier work both sonically and philosophically.
Birdman reunited once more in 2006 with the release of their first studio album in over 20 years Zeno Beach, which was accompanied by a national tour of Australia. Birdman are now currently undergoing a world tour which includes New Zealand, Europe, and the US.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Radio Birdman
| Title | Release | |
| Burn My Eye EP | 1976 | |
| Radios Appear LP | 1977 | |
| Living Eyes LP | 1981 | |
| Alone in the Endzone 45' | 1981 | |
| Ring Of Truth EP (bootleg) | 1988 | |
| Zeno Beach CD | 2006 |
[edit] The Visitors
| Title | Release |
| Phantom EP | 1980 |
| The Visitors LP | 1983 |
| Visitation '79 LP | 1994 |
[edit] New Race
| Title | Release |
| The First and Last LP | 1982 |
| The First and Last German Pressing Vinyl LP | 1983 |
| Crying Sun/Gotta Keep Movin Single | 1983 |
| The First and Last UK Version | 1983 |
| The First To Pay (Vinyl LP and CD) | 1989 |
| Hail Columbia 45 Single" | 1989 |
| The Second Wave LP | 1990 |
| The First And Last Reissue LP | 1997 |
[edit] Angie Pepper
| Title | Release | |
| Frozen World 7" single | 1984 | |
| Its Just That I Miss You LP | 2001 | |
| Res Ispa Loquitor LP | 2003 |
[edit] The Deniz Tek Group
| Title | Release | |
| Outside LP | 1994 | |
| 4-4 The Number of The Beat EP | 1995 | |
| Italian Tour EP | 1996 | |
| Le Bonne Route | 1996 | |
| Bad Road EP | 1997 |
[edit] Deniz Tek Solo
| Title | Release | |
| Orphan Tracks LP | 1989 | |
| Good 'Nuff EP | 1992 | |
| Take It To The Verticle LP | 1992 | |
| Got Live | 1999 |
