The Welcome Mat

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The Welcome Mat was a four-piece indie guitar Australian musical group which formed in Sydney in 1989, and broke up in January, 1997.[1] The original line-up of the band consisted of Wayne Connolly on lead guitar and vocals, Cory Messenger on rhythm guitar and vocals, Peter Bennett on drums, and David Moss on bass. Moss was replaced in 1991 by Leo Mullens, whose addition to the line-up meant that, along with Connolly and Messenger, the band would feature three singer-songwriters. Songs recorded by The Welcome Mat include 'Cake', '10,000 People with the Same Idea' and 'Landspeed'. They were the first band ever to play Australia’s Big Day Out festival.

[edit] Biography

The Welcome Mat was formed in mid-1989 by songwriters Wayne Connolly and Cory Messenger, who had played together in various Sydney independent bands in the late 1980s. Drummer Peter Bennett and bassist David Moss worked with Connolly at Fairlight digital audio company, and were asked to join the as-yet unnamed band to help work on the songs Connolly and Messenger had been demoing on a Tascam four-track recorder. The songs themselves were mostly guitar-based tunes, heavily influenced by the bands associated with the Flying Nun Records label from New Zealand, as well as US Indie rock performers R.E.M., Husker Dü, the Replacements, Dinosaur Jr, Lemonheads, Buffalo Tom, and UK bands The Smiths, Stone Roses and The Wonderstuff.

Inspired by the unexpected commercial success of their friends The Hummingbirds, Connolly and Messenger approached local promoter Steve Pavlovic, and for their live debut landed a mid-week headlining slot at the Landsdowne Hotel in inner-city Chippendale in January 1990, attracting an encouraging 150 punters. The name The Welcome Mat was chosen at the last minute by Connolly, in the belief that it was reminiscent of the name of another musical influence, The Wedding Present.

After several other low-profile headlining and support gigs, Connolly and Messenger had gotten wind that Waterfront Records founder Chris Dunn had seen and liked the band, and was interested in distributing a vinyl 7-inch single. The band entered Sunshine 16-track recording studios in Surrey Hills in May 1990 to record their debut single, Connolly's 'Last of the Great Letdowns', backed with Messenger's 'The Spin Doctor'. Despite the fact that the UK-born engineer halted the session mid-way through in order to watch the Manchester United-Crystal Palace FA Cup final, and that the band could only afford to mix the A side of the single, the record appeared on the band's own Plenny O'Hooks label in late 1990. While the single garnered uniformly excellent reviews in Australia's street press, 'Last of the Great Letdowns' barely managed to scrape the bottom the the ARIA independent chart.

[edit] References

  1. ^ McFarlane, Ian (2000). The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1864487682
  • McFarlane, Ian (2000). The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1864487682
  • Spencer, Chris (1996). Who's Who of Australian Rock . Five Mile Press. ISBN 1865038911

[edit] External links