Grinspoon

Grinspoon emerged as an Australian band fusing punk, grunge, and funk on the North Coast of New South Wales, a stretch of rural coastline long known for drawing an alternate lifestyle community. Guitarist Pat Davern and bassist Joe Hansen first crossed paths with vocalist Phil Jamieson and drummer Kris Hopes during a 1995 jam night at Lismore’s main hotel. The four musicians formed the group expressly to enter a nationwide contest, the first of its kind, staged by the government-funded youth radio network Triple J. They took first place with “Sickfest,” the very first song they had written, and adopted the name Grinspoon in tribute to pro-marijuana activist Dr. Lester Grinspoon.

Building on that Triple J exposure, the band began touring and self-financed a five-track CD, Licker Bottle Cozy, completed in July 1996. MCA’s Australian subsidiary Grunge then signed them, after which they recorded one more EP ahead of the September 1997 release of their debut album Guide To Better Living. The title was taken from a 1960s Sunbeam booklet of whitegoods. Insisting on a local setting, they tracked the record in Byron Bay instead of a major-city studio. The album climbed to number three, remained on the national charts for twenty-six weeks, reached double platinum status, and yielded several hit singles. After extensive live dates supporting the American edition of Guide To Better Living, the group returned to Sydney studios with expatriate American producer Jonathan Burnside (Nirvana, Melvins) to cut their second album, Easy, issued in November 1999.

Their style has been described variously as Helmet meets Bush, or as ranging from the Helter Skelter-era Beatles and Radio Birdman to Fugazi and Ween.