Difference between revisions of "Cygnet Committee"

Revision as of 18:14, 5 October 2006

Named after a little-known song from Bowie's Space Oddity album, Cygnet Committee were formed in January 1987 to introduce a new face to what they believed was "Hamilton's dying music scene". The original line-up was Sean Lynch (vocals, acoustic guitar), Adrian Scott a.k.a Adrian Webclaw (bass), Tony Mephisto a.k.a Tony Davys (guitar, effects) and Daniel Allen (drums).

All but Allen remained in the group throughout, with numerous changes behind the drumkit at first. He became the drummer for Requiem and was replaced by Tara Watt; Paul Tregilgas was reputedly rejected only to go on to become the best known drummer in Hamilton; and finally Erik O'Kane became the most permanent drummer to play with the group.

A second guitarist Dave Whitehead was also recruited from Requiem in 1988, completing the Committee's "definitive" 5-piece line-up. Whitehead also became the band's producer, engineering all their recordings. Definitive recordings included the gargantuan gothic grind of Corpse (which effectively became the band's "theme song"), the short-sharp blast of snot-infested punk-noise known as Skag and the epic "Apocalyptic Folk" anthem City.

They played the University of Waikato's Orientation in 1988, and supported The Chills later that year at the Hillcrest Tavern.

With their swapping of various members and playing live together often, Cygnet Committee and Requiem formed the collective known as Terror Couple, who produced Hamilton's first compilation by the same name, derived from a song by early UK gothic band Bauhaus, and also a reference to the love of Horror (Terror) exhibited by the Two Bands (Couple).

With these "schlock horror" overtones culled from the genres of gothic, punk, glam, metal and deathrock, both Cygnet Committee and Requiem were soon seen to be the spear-head of a "dark" movement in Hamilton music, which also later included Book of Martyrs and The Haunting, among others.

Cygnet Committee also had a theatrical element to their performances. Frontman Sean Lynch was heavily involved in drama at the time and his stage performances and melodramatic vocal style were often compared to the camp histrionics of Ziggy-period Bowie, and Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy.

Live Review(from defunct Auckland 'zine Monitor):
26/07/89 at The Gluepot (Auckland), with Book of Martyrs and Watershed
"..the Cygnet Committee experience was like stepping into a weird dream where Peter Murphy meets Ziggy, they tango a while (great tangoing - can that guy move or what?) and it all gets very arty. Ten out of ten for consistent stage act..."
- Sasha Diamond

One of the band-members (?) was also a theatrical lighting technician which was utilised to good effect in the band's shows, and they often favoured performances in theatres rather than conventional pubs and music venues. Other performances at Auckland's Gluepot are well-remembered, one such event involving an actor as a "zombie" who wandered on stage to have his "brains" eaten with spoons by members of the band during the song Brain Music. A young woman in the audience (thought to have been tripping) was so convinced by the horrific sight that she ran on stage hysterically assaulting band members in an attempt to liberate the poor cannibalised zombie.

They disbanded around 1990/'91 (?).

• Sean Lynch went to Melbourne and focused primarily on theatre, but has more recently returned and is in a new band (name?) with Stan Jagger.
• Co-founder/songwriter and bassist Adrian Scott (Webclaw) later played in and collaborated with many bands, projects and artists including Swamp Goblin, Wendyhouse, Raleigh 20, Emit Snake Beings, The Webclaw Four/For/Flaw and solo project Frottage.
• Tony Davys (Mephisto) ran Highlights, the only Hamilton "alternative" venue in the early 1990s.
• Erik O'Kane played alongside Adrian Scott in both Swamp Goblin and Raleigh 20 and may have (?) also played in Gas, among others.
• Dave Whitehead and former Requiem band-mate Dave Lowndes transformed Terror Couple into Theta Productions (early-mid '90s) and also co-founded Gas. Whitehead's work with Theta on sound for film eventually led to his becoming an award winning sound-designer for big films like Lord Of The Rings and King Kong.