Alternative Rock

David M Western returns with a national tour in support of the stunning and reflective new album ‘On, On & On’ - out 20 Oct 2023 on Cheersquad Records & Tapes on vinyl and digital.

A depth and a quiet pull is found in the music of David M Western. Even his hell-storm, stadium-filling country-rock numbers can deliver a gut punch you never saw coming. Moments of reflection, cutting witicism and strange comically driven anecdotes will be thrown at you from every direction. David M Western will be simultaneously driving you while keeping you calm from the passenger seat.

Having got his start as a musician hopping bars playing bass or guitar for bands in the thriving Melbourne folk-rock and country scene, David has now stepped into the spotlight leading his own band of world class Australian session musicians.

Building on his growing reputation from debut 2022 album titled ‘Child Mind’, Western observes through an even more incisive and soul-searching magnifying glass on his latest release, the vast, reflective and tender album ‘On, On & On.’.

In the lead up to the release of ‘On, On & On’, David has played to packed rooms each week as part of his residency at the now cult-icon Melbourne pub ‘The Gem’, played to a sold out album launch show at The Old Bar, toured in support of Ella Hooper (Killing Heidi) and signed to Melbourne indie label ‘Cheersquad Records & Tapes’.

Written and recorded within roughly three months, recorded almost entirely live and with minimal overdubbing, ‘On, On & On’ will floor listeners, enjoying at first the quality of songwriting and excitement within the songs, yet returning for the emotional connection they will find within the lyrics.

Heavy Soul, the follow-up to the million-selling Stanley Road, saw Weller twist his sound again. The album was more raw than its predecessor; Weller was now frequently playing live in the studio in as few takes as possible.[citation needed] The first single "Peacock Suit" reached No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart, and the album reached No. 2. Success in the charts also came from compilations: "Best Of" albums by the Jam and the Style Council charted, and in 1998 his own solo collection Modern Classics was a substantial success.

In 2000, while living in Send, Surrey, he released his fifth solo studio album, Heliocentric. Once again finding himself without a record contract, Weller's Days of Speed worldwide tour provided him with the opportunity to view his works as one back catalogue, giving rise to a second successful live album in 2001. Days of Speed contained live acoustic versions from the world tour of the same name, including some of his best-known songs from his solo career and the back catalogues of his Jam and Style Council days.

There were rumours at the time that Heliocentric would be Weller's final studio effort, but these proved unfounded when he released the No. 1 hit album Illumination in September 2002. Co-produced by Noonday Underground's Simon Dine, it was preceded by yet another top 10 hit single "It's Written in the Stars". Weller also appears on the 2002 Noonday Underground album called Surface Noise, singing on the track "I'll Walk Right On".

In 2002, Weller collaborated with Terry Callier on the single "Brother to Brother", which featured on Callier's album Speak Your Peace. In 2003, Weller teamed up with electronic rock duo Death in Vegas on a cover of Gene Clark's "So You Say You Lost Your Baby", which featured on their Scorpio Rising album.

In 2004, Weller released an album of covers entitled Studio 150. It debuted at No. 2 in the UK charts and included Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" as well as covers of songs by Gil Scott-Heron, Rose Royce and Gordon Lightfoot, amongst others.

Weller's 2005 album As Is Now featured the singles "From the Floorboards Up", "Come On/Let's Go" and "Here's the Good News". The album was well-received, though critics noted that he was not moving his music forward stylistically,[14] and it became his lowest-charting album since his 1992 debut.

In February 2006 it was announced that Weller would be the latest recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BRIT Awards. Despite a tendency to shun such occasions, Weller accepted the award in person, and performed four songs at the ceremony, including the Jam's classic "Town Called Malice". In June 2006, another double live album titled Catch-Flame!, featuring songs from both his solo work and his career with the Jam and the Style Council, was released. In late 2006, the album Hit Parade was released, which collected all the singles released by the Jam, the Style Council and Weller during his solo career. Two versions of this album were released: a single disc with a selection from each stage of his career, and a four-disc limited edition, which included every single released and came with a 64-page booklet. Weller was offered appointment as a Commander of the Order of British Empire in the 2006 birthday honours, but rejected the offer.[15]

In 2007 Weller was guest vocalist on the album issue by the folk musical project the Imagined Village.

Travis Miller (born May 13, 1984) is an American rapper, singer and record producer from Richmond, Virginia.[1] He has recorded under multiple aliases in various genres since his first known released project in 2005,[2] including Lil Ugly Mane, Shawn Kemp, Vudmurk and Bedwetter.

Miller rose to popularity in the early 2010s with an experimental approach to Southern hip hop. His debut album Mista Thug Isolation gained him notoriety in the underground hip hop scene.[3] Since then, he has experimented with a number of styles within and outside the hip hop genre, most recently releasing the indie rock album Volcanic Bird Enemy and the Voiced Concern.[4][5] His other work spans genres including instrumental and abstract hip hop, black metal, free jazz and noise music.

Miller began recording music in the 2000s under a number of aliases. Much of his early music cannot be found today on the internet, however some of it has been re-released, such as on his Register compilation album. Some of his early work included the black metal projects Vudmurk and Seidhr, the industrial and noise projects Across, Public Garden and Rats, and the underground hip hop group The Legacy, during which time he rapped under the name Young Gus.[6]

Miller began releasing hip hop under the name Lil Ugly Mane on Bandcamp and producing beats for himself and other artists under the name Shawn Kemp in 2010, releasing his debut mixtape Playaz Circle in 2011.[7] His early work under the Lil Ugly Mane name drew on various styles of underground Southern hip hop from the 1990s such as Memphis rap and chopped and screwed. His style was similar to that of the contemporaneous Raider Klan collective, with whom he collaborated. His 2012 debut album Mista Thug Isolation earned positive reviews from Mishka NYC, among others and support from members of the popular hip hop collective Odd Future.[8][9] The album has since been hailed as a classic of the 2010s underground hip hop scene, earning later praise from Pitchfork and The Needle Drop.[10][11] The album was followed by a number of smaller releases, including the Uneven Compromise EP, which is ranked in the top 10 greatest EPs of all time by user-generated music review site RateYourMusic, and the single "On Doing an Evil Deed Blues", in which he outlined his grievances with the music industry and his intention to retire the Lil Ugly Mane project.[12][13]

Miller announced he would release one final album under the Lil Ugly Mane name, and began sporadically releasing compilations of beats and older material on Bandcamp, including the Three Sided Tape series, the final installment of which, Third Side of Tape, received positive coverage from Anthony Fantano of The Needle Drop among others.[14] In 2015, Miller released what was intended to be the final Lil Ugly Mane album – Oblivion Access and the final Shawn Kemp project – Trick Dice, a collaboration with rapper Nickelus F. Oblivion Access saw Lil Ugly Mane taking a more experimental approach divorced from his earlier '90s Southern rap influences.[15]

In 2017, Miller announced he would continue rapping under the name Bedwetter and released his debut project under the name – Volume 1: Flick Your Tongue Against Your Teeth and Describe the Present. The album continued with the more introspective and experimental style of Oblivion Access.[16] Around the same time however, Miller began rapping under the Lil Ugly Mane name again as part of the group Secret Circle with Antwon and Wiki. After releasing a few singles, the group disbanded and scrapped their debut album due to a personal falling out.[17] Miller began working with the remaining members of GothBoiClique, however then appeared to go on hiatus, only releasing small collections of older material sporadically.

In 2021, Miller began releasing new music under the Lil Ugly Mane name. He released the single "Headboard", followed by "Porcelain Slightly" and then his third major release under the Lil Ugly Mane name – Volcanic Bird Enemy and the Voiced Concern, which was covered positively by Sputnik Music and Stereogum.[18][19] Around the same time, Miller released a new black metal demo under the Vudmurk name.

The Hard Aches are an Australian melodic punk/alternative rock band from Adelaide, South Australia. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Ben Clennett (aka Ben David) and drummer Alex Upton. The band formed in 2012, originally born out of a backing band for Clennett's solo work under the moniker Ben David and the Banned. The group played the Adelaide leg of the Big Day Out in 2012, before extensively touring for the rest of the year. Three new original songs, now under the name The Hard Aches, were released in February 2013 as a split EP with Melbourne band Foxtrot. The band also opened for Dropkick Murphys and Frank Turner in April 2013.

The band's debut standalone EP, entitled Organs and Airports, was released in November 2013 via Anchorhead Records. In 2014, the band parted ways with bassist/vocalist Brianna Mahoney. She was not replaced, converting the band into a duo. The band's debut album, Pheromones, was released in May 2015 via Anchorhead Records. The album spawned two singles, "I Get Like This" and "Knots." A standalone single, "Loser," was released in October 2015. A new single, "Glad That You're Gone," arrived in May of 2016 as a precursor to the band's second EP, I Freak Out.

The band released a new single, "Brain Drain," in 2017. It was released as both a standalone single and a split seven-inch with UK band Muncie Girls. Their second studio album, Mess, was released in April 2018 via Anchorhead/ADA. Its singles were the title track, "Happy" (featuring Georgia Maq) and "I Feel Like I'm Dying."

Prior to a national tour with Grinspoon, the band released a new single entitled "Wasted" in September 2019.