Nitocris (band)

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Nitocris
Origin	Sydney, Australia
Genre(s)	Heavy metal, punk rock
Years active	1992–2001
Label(s)	Phantom Records
Associated acts	Morgana and the Monstars
Members
Morgana Ancone - lead vocals Jess Finlayson - lead guitar Kira Taylor - rhythm guitar Sara Anderson - bass Andi Stanway - drums

Nitocris was a band from Sydney, Australia playing a combination of speedy punk and heavy metal. The band was notable as being perhaps the country's first significant all-female touring band.

[edit] Band History

Nitocris was formed in 1992 by guitarists Kira Taylor and Jess Finlayson, bass player Sara Anderson and drummer Andrea Stanway, who were classmates at Hunters Hill High School. A newspaper advertisement located singer Morgana Ancone,the only member of the band over the age of 18. The girls' age proved no barrier and before long Nitocris was performing live across Sydney, developing such a reputation that they were invited to perform at the 1994 Big Day Out musical festival even before the release of their debut recording, an EP called "Ten Stories Down". The album Screaming Dolorous followed in November of that year and in April 1995 the band toured the east coast with the Alternative Nation Festival.

Nitocris developed a strong and devoted following in Sydney, regularly selling out shows across the city and their releases were strong sellers for their label, local independent Phantom Records. However, Nitocris never really established a big fanbase outside Sydney in spite of tours with acts as diverse as Sprung Monkey, The Cult, The Pursuit of Happiness, The Whitlams and The Screaming Jets, among others. The "Hyperland" EP was a reasonable success for the band but their next release "Butter" fared less well and problems with a former manager stalled progress for some time. However, 1999 saw a reversal of fortunes when Nitocris toured nationally for the first time as part of a package called Turn Up Your Radio and the self-titled album of the following year displayed a mellower, poppier style that won some radio airplay. Nitocris scored an ARIA Award nomination and the band toured Australia-wide with the Big Day Out in 2001. Plans were made to record a third album but instead decided to split up and played a final show at Sydney's Newtown Festival in November, 2001. Finlayson and Stanway continued to perform together in a band called The Fyreflyes until the drummer left in 2004; that band recorded a number of EPs but appears to have been laid to rest as Finlayson announced a solo career in 2007. Ancone now performs with her band Morgana and the Monstars.

The band's name was chosen by Stanway after the female pharaoh Nitocris, popularised by H. P. Lovecraft.

[edit] Discography

Albums:

Singles & EPs:

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Nitocris MySpace page
• Interview with Kira
• Interview with Sara
• Song lyrics