THE MESS HALL

'The Mess Hall' are a two-piece drums and guitar combo based in Sydney, Australia specialising in "raw, edgy bluesy rock." The band is consists of Jed Kurzel (vocals/guitar) and Cec Condon (drums/vocals).

Contents

History

Discography

Albums

EPs and singles

Awards and nominations

Awards

Nominations

References

External links

History

Original members Jed Kurzel and Anthony Johnsen began playing shows in 2001 and quickly gained a reputation as an exciting live act.
Their 2003 EP, ''Feeling Sideways'', produced by Matt Lovell (Something for Kate) and Chris Joannou (Silverchair), earned an ARIA nomination for Best Independent Release.^[1] The same year, Johnsen left the band and was replaced by drummer Cec Condon^[2] of The Tremors and Mexico City.
In 2005, The Mess Hall released ''Notes From A Ceiling'' after a lot of anticipation. As well as releasing the single "Metal And Hair", the songs "Pills" and "Disco 1" received consistent radio play time on Triple J. The album won an ARIA award for Best Engineer and was included in both Triple J and Rolling Stone's Top 50 Albums of 2005.
The band have played on the same bill as^[3] Tenacious D, You Am I, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, The Strokes, Kings of Leon and Jet as well as playing at the Splendour in the Grass, Homebake, Falls and Big Day Out festivals. They have toured to Japan and the USA, including performances at SXSW^[4] in Austin. The band has such covers on their live set list such as Nirvana's "Breed" and Mudhoney's "Touch Me I'm Sick".
The band also find themselves being constantly compared to The White Stripes but Kurzel expresses otherwise. ''"When we started to do our thing there was no White Stripes around. A lot of people I'm influenced by are a lot of old poor guys from the Mississippi who just play really honest and a dirty sort of blues. That's where The Mess Hall come from. We really never set out to be a two piece. It was just something that worked out that way"''.^[5]

Discography

Albums

★ The Mess Hall'' (2001)

★ Notes From A Ceiling'' (2005)

EPs and singles

★ Feeling Sideways'' (2003)

★ Evelyn'' (2005)

★ Metal And Hair" (2005)

Awards and nominations

Awards

★ 2005 ARIA Awards, Engineer of the Year for ''Notes From A Ceiling

Nominations

★ 2003 ARIA Awards, Best Independent Release for ''Feeling Sideways''

★ 2005 ARIA Awards, Producer of the Year for ''Notes From A Ceiling''

★ 2006 Jack Awards, Best Live Band

★ 2006 Jack Awards, Best Lead Guitarist - ''Jed Kurzel''^[6]

References

1. The Mess Hall:Poised To Release New Dirty Blues
2. THe Mess Hall - Jed Engine
3. Homebake 2003 bands
4. SxSW Welcome An Australasian Talent Influx
5. The Mess Hall
6. The Jack Awards Nominees Announced

External links

★ The Mess Hall official site

★ MySpace page

★ The Mess Hall's Cd's available from Waterfront Records

★ The Mess Hall at triplej.net.au