Panel of Judges

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Panel of Judges
Panel of Judges at Open Casket EP Launch, 2004
Background information
Origin	Melbourne, Australia
Genre(s)	Indie Rock
Years active	1998–present
Label(s)	Gothic Pharaoh records
Website	Official Site Label Site
Members
Dion Nania Alison Bolger Paul Williams
Former members
Michael Nichols

Panel of Judges is an indie pop band from Melbourne, Australia. Dion Nania began the group in 1997 as a solo project, then added Alison Bolger, Michael Nichols and Paul Williams soon afterwards. All four band members were already notable within the Australian and (in Nichols' case) international independent music scene prior to this time, making Panel of Judges something of a supergroup in certain contexts. Nania, originally from Geelong, had played with the Golden Lifestyle Band; Bolger, originally from Brisbane, had played bass in Clag and Sleepy Township and in looser configurations such as an improvisational group with Mia Schoen and Ellen Turner; Williams had been a member of Perth group Molasses and, in the early days of Panel of Judges was also drumming in Melbourne band Jaguar is Jaguar; and Nichols had been a formative figure in the Hanshalf Trio in Melbourne, Crabstick and Blairmailer in Sydney, and the 'travelling' group Ruff Buff. Panel of Judges was to be his last musical foray to date. Crabstick issued three albums, two of which were posthumous. Blairmailer released one album and toured in the USA, playing at the first Yo Yo a Go Go festival in 1993.

Panel of Judges' first release was a self-titled EP on Chapter Music in 1998; their album Cool Fool was released the following year after which Nichols left and the band continued as a three-piece. They travelled to Europe in 2002, playing in London and Paris, and returned in 2004 to record their second album No Scandal - No Future - In Heaven, the title of which was 'stolen from a card left on Serge Gainsbourg's grave'. They have since toured Japan and New Zealand.