| Ball Park Music | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Genres | Indie rock |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Labels | Independent |
| Associated acts | My Own Pet Radio |
| Website | www.ballparkmusic.com |
| Members | |
| Sam Cromack Jennifer Boyce Paul Furness Dean Hanson Brock Smith Daniel Hanson |
|
Ball Park Music is a six-piece indie rock/pop band from Brisbane,[1] Australia, made up of frontman Sam Cromack (guitar/vocals), Jennifer Boyce (bass, keytar, backing vocals), Paul Furness (keys, trombone), Brock Smith (guitar) and twins Dean Hanson (guitar, bass, backing vocals) and Daniel Hanson (drums,backing vocals).[2]
Contents |
"Ball Park Music" was originally the name given to Sam Cromack's solo work. In 2008, he moved from Lennox Head to Brisbane and met twins Dean and Daniel Hanson who were then a rhythm section looking for a singer/songwriter/guitarist. The three were soon introduced to Brock Smith, Paul Furness and Jennifer Boyce as a university group and they soon began playing shows around Brisbane like The Zoo and The Red Room.
They independently recorded and produced their debut EP Rolling On The Floor, Laughing Ourselves To Sleep at university and gave it a "soft release" in April 2009[3] mainly to family and friends. The EP was quickly championed by triple j presenter Stephanie Hughes who gave tracks "All I Want Is You" and "Black Skies" their first national airplay.[4] Richard Kingsmill said "Rufus Wainwright called. He wants his song back. So he should. This is a pretty good one."[4] about their song "Black Skies" and gave it four out of five stars.
In late 2009, they released a single called "Sea Strangers (I Don't Really Know You)" through Mucho-Bravado and MGM Distribution and shot a video with director Alex Barnes. The single eventually appeared on the 2010 EP release Conquer The Town, Easy As Cake. The EP spawned a Triple J hit in "iFly"[5] ("I f*cking love you, I think you're pretty") which immediately was added to high rotation, gained a five out of five star rating from Richard Kingsmill and a comparison to Brisbane band Custard from Dom Alessio.[4] Another song "Western Whirl" was nominated for both Best Alternative and The Courier Mail People's Choice Awards at the 2010 Q Song Awards.[5][6]
In 2010, the band played shows around Brisbane with the likes of Philadelphia Grand Jury, Hungry Kids of Hungary, Cloud Control, The Boat People, and Boy & Bear and made their first interstate trip to Sydney with Hungry Kids of Hungary and Deep Sea Arcade. In October 2010 the band embarked on their first Australian tour in October with Hungry Kids of Hungary and Big Scary[7] and release a brand new single "Sad Rude Future Dude"[8] which was placed on rotation by national broadcaster Triple J.[9]
In November 2010, they were named as a Triple J New Crop artist, "one of the 20 best new bands in Australia" and were also offered a slot at the triple j Ausmusic Month Party in Brisbane alongside John Steel Singers and Hungry Kids of Hungary where they collaborated with David McCormack on a cover of the Custard's "Apartment". A recording of the track first aired on triple j's Super Request on Wednesday, 24 November.[10] Also in November, the band was announced as the Queensland winner of a triple j Unearthed competition and won the chance to play at Big Day Out 2011 on the Gold Coast. Additionally, the band played several festivals in summer of 2010/11 including Falls Festival, South Bound, Sunset Sounds and Good Vibrations.
They entered the studio in January 2011 with producer Matt Redlich and began work on their third EP. They recorded songs such as "It's Nice To Be Alive", "Rich People Are Stupid" and "Literally Baby" only to abandon the idea of an EP in favour of a full-length album. They released "Rich People Are Stupid" right away in March as an iTunes exclusive and the song was immediately added to high rotation on triple j. They toured in April with Eagle and the Worm and We Say Bamboulee - the winners of the triple j Big Day Out competition for Victoria and New South Wales respectively - for The Super Commuter Tour. Immediately following that, they embarked on another east coast jaunt with Sydney's Guineafowl.
On June 24 2011, Your Daily SPA leaked the information that Ball Park Music had signed to Sydney label Stop Start Music[11][12] to release their debut album Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs. It was released in Australia and New Zealand through Stop Start/EMI on September 9 and debuted on the Australian ARIA Album Chart the following week at #36.
In July, another single called "It's Nice To Be Alive" was issued and was once again supported by triple j. The video for the song achieved a Channel [V] Ripe Clip of the Week, beating out competition from The Kooks's "Junk Of The Heart" and Kanye West/Jay-Z's "Otis". Ball Park Music embarked on a four-date headline tour with Adelaide rock outfit City Riots on the How I Met Ball Park Music Tour which was followed by their own headline tour to launch their debut album in October with Northeast Party House and The Jungle Giants. Immediately following that, they embarked as main support for Boy & Bear on their "Moonfire Tour".
In September, when Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs was released, the re-recorded album version of the oldest Ball Park Music song - "All I Want Is You" - was selected for radio play. Other album tracks such as "Aligator" and "Birds Down Basements" were played by the station, especially by Zan Rowe and Lindsay "The Doctor" Macdougall who conducted interviews on air.
In November at an awards ceremony at the Oxford Arts Factory in Sydney, Ball Park Music were named the Unearthed Artist of the Year at triple j's J Awards. They were also nominated as one of the 10 Best Albums for 2011 but were beaten by Gotye and his album "Making Mirrors".
In December it was announced that Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs was voted #10 in the Triple J listeners album poll and #2 according to The AU Review. The third single "Literally Baby" was serviced to radio and TV and it quickly achieved rotation on Nova Brisbane and Channel [V]. To finish off the year, the band played Peat's Ridge Festival, Pyramid Rock and No Years on New Year's Eve in Brisbane.
Sam Cromack now records his solo work under the moniker My Own Pet Radio and has released two solo albums - 2009's Suburban Lemon Shops And The Bruxer in My Bed and 2010's Unidentified Flying Collection Of Songs - and also has another project with Paul Furness called Mr Mojo Rising.[13] Jennifer Boyce has a solo career under her own name. Dean and Daniel Hanson have a project called Huntsman with their friend. Brock Smith plays solo under the alias Broken Dog and Dan Hanson also has a solo project called Self Percussion.
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