Magic Dirt is an Australian rock band, which formed in 1991 in Geelong, Victoria, with Daniel Herring on guitar, Adam Robertson on drums, Adalita Srsen on vocals and guitar, and Dean Turner on bass guitar. Initially forming an alternative underground band called Deer Bubbles which split and formed into the much heavier, rock based group called The Jim Jims, they were renamed as Magic Dirt. Their top 40 releases on the ARIA Albums Chart are Friends in Danger (1996), What Are Rock Stars Doing Today (2000), Tough Love (2003) and Snow White (2005). They have received nine ARIA Music Award nominations including four at the ARIA Music Awards of 1995 for Life Was Better – their second extended play. Turner died in August 2009 of dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (a soft tissue cancer). From 2010 to November 2018, the band were on hiatus.
History
Early days (1991–1993)
Magic Dirt formed as Deer Bubbles in 1991 in Geelong, Victoria with Adalita Srsen on vocals and guitar, and Dean Turner on bass guitar.
In early 1995, the band performed on the Big Day Out festival tour across Australia, with Hole (Magic Dirt also supported their other Australian shows) and Silverchair. The success of Life Was Better had attracted international attention and Geoffrey Weiss, of Warner Music in the United States, traveled to Australia to see the band perform at the Big Day Out. Weiss negotiated a deal with their manager, Gavan Purdy and the band signed a two-album deal with Warner. In August 1995, Daniel Herring left the band. His final recording with the group was the 10" vinyl single, "I Was Cruel", which featured the words "Thankyou, Daniel. Goodbye" etched onto the vinyl. Dave Thomas, of fellow Geelong band Bored!, who had managed Magic Dirt at the early stages of their career, was recruited as Herring's replacement on guitar. The music style was a reaction to the accessibility of their earlier material. While Warner had expected more songs in the vein of "Ice", the band offered tracks like the 8-minute "Bodysnatcher". Warner were less than impressed, and went so far as to offer the band additional time and money to re-record the album. The band refused, and when Friends in Danger was released in September, the label put little effort into promoting it. According to rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, "[it] matched the band's fearless experimentation with a dark, unhinged sound that went from moments of eerie near-silence to full-tilt guitar noise". It received critical acclaim, as a combination of the band's pop sound, their noisy early material, and new elements such as acoustic guitars. Lead single "Locket" made an impact on radio and music video channels, but its exposure was limited due to the explicit language in the song's chorus. "I Love the Rain" followed as the second single from the album. Neither single charted into the top 50.
Aside from joining the Big Day Out tour again in January and February, 2006 was a quiet year for the band. Sánchez continued his work with Midnight Woolf. He re-assembled the band in Spain for a series of gigs, and they released a second album, Electric Deluxe Graveyard Blues. Later in the year, two Magic Dirt tracks, "Sucker Love" (B-side to "Locket") and "Daddy" (from Life Was Better) appeared on the soundtrack for the Australian film Suburban Mayhem, plus a track from theredsunband, which had been produced by Turner. Also included were two solo contributions from Srsen, covers of "Sex Beat" and "Double Dare". "Double Dare" was released as a single in October. The tracks, produced by Mick Harvey (member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, producer for PJ Harvey), were the first solo material to appear from Srsen. Turner, Harvey and Rowland S. Howard also played on the tracks.
Emergency Music (2006–2009)
After leaving East West, Magic Dirt created their own label, Emergency Music in 2006. In October, Srsen announced the band's future activities, in an interview on Triple J's breakfast show. The band would release an EP, a mini-album, and then an album. A report in Sydney street press Drum Media, indicated that the EP would be given away at shows and sold in selected independent music stores. The EP featured covers of The Scientists' "We Had Love" and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' "Stagger Lee", as well as a live re-recording of "Mother's Latest Fear" from Snow White.
In 2007, the band embarked on two separate projects; an experimental all noise album Roky's Room EP and a heavier dark rock mini album, Beast. Both were released on the band's own label Emergency Music in mid-2007. Beast harked back to the band's earlier, rawer material and featured original guitarist Herring on two tracks ("Horror Me" and a re-recording of "Sucker Love"). The single, "Bring Me the Head Of...", made little impact on radio, including Triple J, which had previously supported the band. The group spent the remainder of 2007 touring in support of Beast, including an East Coast tour with The Beasts Of Bourbon – who were often joined on stage by Srsen – and Rowland S. Howard.
In November 2007, the band began recording their sixth full-length album, Girl, which was released in July 2008. The album debuted at No. 7 on the Australian Independent Music chart. However, it did not reach the ARIA Albums Chart top 50. After Turner died, the band released a statement:
Following Turner's death Magic Dirt performed a final tour in honour of his memory, culminating in their appearance at the 2010 Big Day Out festival. They also released a six-track EP, White Boy, in November 2009. Srsen embarked on a successful solo career, while Sánchez formed a new band called River of Snakes.: February 2019 saw the band play alongside You Am I at Taronga Zoo Sydney, and in March as part of Golden Plains Festival with The Jesus and Mary Chain, Liz Phair, Happy Mondays and Four Tet. In late 2019, the band toured as part of the Scene and Heard festival alongside The Dandy Warhols, Jebediah, Wolfmother and Eskimo Joe.
The band were scheduled to perform at several festivals across Australia in 2020 and 2021, but many of these were cancelled or rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The band later performed at several dates of the 2022 Spring Loaded Festival.
With a large portion of their back catalogue out of print, the band also announced in November 2018 that they would be reissuing their Signs Of Satanic Youth EP, on vinyl, CD and digitally, in January 2019. The reissue campaign continued with Life Was Better (available on vinyl and streaming services for the first time) in January 2020, a 20th anniversary edition of What Are Rocks Stars Doing Today in October 2020, and Friends In Danger in July 2021. The reissue of Friends In Danger reached number 10 on the ARIA Albums Chart, their highest chart entry to date. Young And Full Of The Devil was reissued for its 25th anniversary in April 2023, reaching 78 on the ARIA Albums Chart
In July 2022, the band embarked on their On The Road tour, their first headlining tour since reforming in 2018. The tour saw the band play several shows in New South Wales, along with dates in Canberra, Melbourne, Torquay and Adelaide. In June 2023, the band announced a national tour commemorating the 25th anniversary of Young and Full of the Devil, playing the album in full. In September 2023, the band released a cover of The Saints' "(I'm) Stranded", their first new music since 2009, for Mushroom Records 50th anniversary
Members
Current members
- Adalita Srsen – vocals, guitar (1991–2010, 2018–present)
- Raúl Sánchez – guitar (1997–2010, 2018–present)
Current touring musicians
- Steve Patrick – bass (2018–present)
- Andre Fazio – drums (2023–present)
Former members
- Dean Turner – bass guitar (1991–2009; his death)
- Daniel Herring – guitar (1991–1995)
- Adam Robertson – drums (1992–2010, 2018–2022)
- Dave Thomas – guitar (1995–1997; died 2020)
- Matt Sonic – bass (2008–2010; touring)
- Dan McKay – drums (2022–2023; touring)
Discography
Albums
Studio albums
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ List of studio albums, with selected chart positions
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:15em;"| Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:21em;"| Details
! scope="col" colspan="1"| Peak chart positions
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| AUS<br />
|-
! scope="row"| Magic Dirt
|
- Released: October 2006
- Label: Emergency Music <small>(EMERGENCY001)</small>
- Formats: Limited Edition CD
| —
|-
! scope="row"| Magic Dirt
|
- Released: August 2008 <small>(Not sold in stores)</small>
- Label: Emergency Music
- Formats: 500 copies limited edition give away CD
| —
|-
! scope="row"| White Boy
|
- Released: October 2009
- Label: Emergency Music <small>(EMERGENCY006)</small>
| —
|}
Singles
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:13em;"| Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:1em;"| Year
! scope="col" colspan="1"| Peak chart positions
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:13em;"| Album
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| AUS<br>
| rowspan="3"| 2003
|
| rowspan="4"| Tough Love
|-
! scope="row"| "Watch Out Boys"
|
|-
! scope="row"| "Plastic Loveless Letter"
| 34
|-
! scope="row"| "All My Crushes"
| 2004
| —
|-
! scope="row"| "Locket"
| rowspan="2"| 2005
| 51
| rowspan="2"| Snow White
|-
! scope="row"| "I Love the Rain"
| —
|-
! scope="row"| "Bring Me the Head Of"
| 2007
| —
| Beast
|-
! scope="row"| "Romy"
| rowspan="2"| 2008
| —
| rowspan="2"| Girl
|-
! scope="row"| "White Boy"
| —
|-
! scope="row"| "(I'm) Stranded"
| 2023
| —
| Mushroom: Fifty Years of Making Noise (Reimagined)
|-
|}
Notes
Album appearances
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ List of album appearances
! scope="col" style="width:20em;"| Title
! scope="col"| Year
! scope="col"| Album
|-
! scope="row"| "Goofy Gumb"
| 1993
| That Was Then, This Is Now
|-
! scope="row"| "My Pal"
| 1997
| Idiot Box (soundtrack)
|-
! scope="row"| "Sparrow"
| 1997
| Recovery: Hits from the Back Door
|-
! scope="row"| "Rabbit with Fangs"
| 1998
| Triple J: Lust for Live
|-
! scope="row"| "Teenage Vampire" (demo)
| 2000
| Hardcore Music in Ya Face!
|-
! scope="row"| "Supernova"
| 2000
| Looking for Alibrandi (soundtrack)
|-
! scope="row"| "Who Made Me Who I Am" <br>
| 2001
| Corroboration
|}
Awards and nominations
AIR Awards
The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. (The commenced in 2006)
!
|-
| 2008
|Girl
| Best Independent Hard Rock/Punk Album
|
|
ARIA Music Awards
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. Magic Dirt have been nominated for 9 awards.
!
|-
| rowspan="4"| 1995
| rowspan="4"| Life Was Better
| Best New Talent
|
| rowspan="9"|
|-
| Breakthrough Artist - Single
|
|-
| Best Independent Release
|
|-
| Best Alternative Release
|
|-
| 2001
| What Are the Rock Stars Doing Today
| Best Alternative Release
|
|-
| rowspan="3"| 2003
| Tough Love
| Best Rock Album
|
|-
| Adalita and Steven Gorrow for Tough Love
| Best Cover Art
|
|-
| Lindsay Gravina for Tough Love
| Engineer of the Year
|
|-
| 2006
| Lindsay Gravina and Magic Dirt for Snow White
| Producer of the Year
|
National Live Music Awards
The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016.
!
|-
| 2018
| Magic Dirt
| Live Legends (Hall of Fame)
|
|
|-
References
;General
- Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
;Specific
External links
- Official website
- Magic Dirt page at Warner Music
- Magic Dirt history J-File