Swamp Goblin
Emerging circa 1992, Swamp Goblin were originally Mark Courtney (vocals), Julian Baddie (aka Julian Smith; guitar), Simon Nudds (bass), Rik O'Kane (drums) and Mike Belay (guitar). They released the song Bigfoot on Juice Extractor in 1992 under the name of Dive. Drummer O'Kane had previously been a member of Cygnet Committee, whilst Baddie was a member of Thunder Monkey concurrent with Swamp Goblin.
The band's sound, with an emphasis on rhythmic grinding, de-tuned guitar and bass riffs was generally described in terms such as "Sludge", "Grind", "Gore", "Swamp", "Doom", "Grunge" and so forth. They typically performed adorned with body paint.
Swamp Goblin came to prominence in May 1993 when they won the inaugural 1993 Contact 89FM Battle of the Bands. The song Life Crashed On from a performance in the heats survives on the They came to take us alive compilation. In 1993 they also had four songs recorded "live-to-air" released on the Inside the Wireless compilation. In June 1993 they used their BoB prize money to record with Dave Whitehead of Theta Productions. From these recordings they released the track Mudflap on Discordia Concors, and a six track cassette, Skin; their final release in 1994. These recordings featured Courtney, Smith, O'Kane and new bassist Eric Mcleod from local roots Reggae band Boil Up.
After these recordings, Eric was replaced on bass by Adrian Webclaw (previously of Pregnant Hippies and Cygnet Committee).
Julian Baddie was later in Deep Six, The Baddies, Hell To Pay, Soul Eclipse (with Dolf de Borst), Masochrist, Ruin and D'Maskus. Rik O'Kane and Adrian Webclaw later appeared together in Raleigh 20 with Chris Paki. Adrian also appeared in Sexual Chocolate, Trucker, Kaosphere Orchestra and a variety of collaborations with brother Martin Webclaw and Emit Snake Beings, including Wendyhouse. O'Kane also performed with Tsunami Band (2005).
