FLASHBACK: Gerling

Before THE PRESETS, CUT COPY & MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS were even heard of, GERLING were the superiors of the Australian indie dance music scene.

GERLING formed in 1993 with a very basic band setup made up of just two guitarists and a drummer. Two years later, their debut single 'Sedatives For Dead Radars' was released on the Fellaheen label which was run by Steve Pavlovic, who is today known for the famous Modular Recordings imprint.

In 1997, guitarist Brad Herdson departed the band and was replaced by Canadian Burke Reid. A year later, the band decided to add an electronic element to their music and released the album titled 'Children Of Telepathic Experiences', which featured a rather diverse range of genres such as indie rock and ambient.

Their second album 'When Young Terrorists Chase The Sun' was released in 2001 and included some of the most club orientated songs of their career. Two of these songs were 'Dust Me Selecta', which made it to number 24 in the Triple J Hottest 100 and 'G-House Project', which featured the vocals of KYLIE MINOGUE.

As a live act, GERLING always delivered an extremely fun and enthusiastic stage presence. The band regularly wore costumes, masks, uniforms and backpacks, and were absolute professionals at getting the crowd involved during their shows.

2003 marked the year of their breakthrough album 'Bad Blood!!!'. At just under 38 minutes long, they managed to serve up some of their best songs such as 'Who's Ya Daddy?', 'Blood On The Microphone', 'In The City' and 'Smash The Emergency Glass', which all went down a treat during their live performances.

Three years later, after originally recording the album in a function room at the Annandale Hotel, '4' arrived with more of a rock focus and some great tracks including 'Good Timing' and 'Gator'. The following year, the legendary three piece (unfortunately) decided to go their separate ways and venture into other projects. We will miss them greatly.

What are GERLING doing now?

Darren Cross is still recording music as a solo producer under the alias THE E.L.F and also recently played in a surf rock band called BETTY AIRS.

Burke Reid has made a name for himself as a successful record producer. Over the past five years he has been responsible for producing, engineering and/or mixing albums for quality bands such as SEEKAE, PVT, THE DRONES, CANYONS, THE MESS HALL, GHOUL, OH MERCY, WOLF & CUB and many more.

Paul “Presser” Towner creates collage art and puts on exhibitions under the name 'Dead Galaxy'.

This is a video of them performing their ultimate party tune 'Enter Space Capsule' at the Homebake Festival way back in 1999. Now, excuse me while I go to pray for a GERLING reunion tour...

Words by Tony Kingston, check out his street on POSSE.COM

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