Something for Kate are an Australian alternative rock band, which formed in 1994 with Paul Dempsey on lead vocals and guitar, and Clint Hyndman on drums. They were joined in 1998 by Stephanie Ashworth on bass guitar and backing vocals. The group have released seven studio albums: both The Official Fiction (2003) and Desert Lights (2006) topped the ARIA Albums Chart; while Beautiful Sharks (1999), Echolalia (2001) and Leave Your Soul to Science (2012) reached the top 10. Two of their singles have reached the ARIA top 20: "Monsters" (2001) and "Déjà Vu" (2003). The band have received a total of 11 nominations for ARIA Music Awards in 1999, 2001 and 2003.
History
1994–1997: Formation and early years
Something for Kate were formed in 1994 in Melbourne by Julian Carroll on bass guitar, Paul Dempsey on lead guitar and lead vocals, and Clint Hyndman on drums. Dempsey and Hyndman were school friends from Padua College, Mornington Peninsula; Carroll successfully answered their advertisement in music stores. Dempsey recalled that they performed because they "just wanted to make an abrasive, staccato racket, like electrical machinery." As for the dog, Dempsey's mother sold Kate, the family's Jack Russell, "They told me she ran away... I think they were a bit tired of her escaping out of the back fence. My mum let it slip about a year later. She let the dog out of the bag."
The band built a varied fan base in Melbourne and recorded a demo tape that sold out of multiple pressings.
Something for Kate released a seven-track extended play, ....The Answer to Both Your Questions, in May 1996. It was produced by Greg Atkinson and appeared both on CD and as a hand-decorated mini-LP. An Oz Music Project reviewer described it as "a critically acclaimed debut release and started catching the ears of punters around the country."
In October they followed with a single, "Dean Martin",
In February 1997, the band recorded their debut album, Elsewhere for 8 Minutes (July 1997), at York St Studios, Auckland, with producer Brian Paulson, whose credits included Wilco and Slint.
A single, "Captain (Million Miles an Hour)", appeared in May 1997. The band's following quickly grew and they toured heavily, scoring gigs on numerous major festivals.
1998–2002: Beautiful Sharks
After about a year in Something for Kate, Ralph had failed to fit in with the other two, Sandpit had released their own debut album, On Second Thought, in May 1998 but they disbanded – founding drummer Paul Sciacca had left ahead of recording sessions.
Dempsey felt that his group were going through a "really turbulent period" and "completely de-constructed everything" to rebuild after Ashworth joined. He co-wrote and performed the tracks with a variety of fellow artists on lead vocals including Ashworth, Jamie Hutchings of Bluebottle Kiss, Laura MacFarlane of Ninetynine, Andria Prudente of Arrosa, Glenn Richards of Augie March and Heinz Riegler of Not from There.
In late 1998 the band travelled to Toronto to rehearse and record their second album, Beautiful Sharks, again with Paulson as producer. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, "the acclaimed [album] moved beyond the stark instrumentation of the first album into more diverse pastures (for example, the rumbling 'Electricity', the atmospheric 'Beautiful Sharks')". They toured Japan and the United States in early 2000, where Ashworth received — and rejected — an offer to join Courtney Love's rock band, Hole. The authors, John O'Donnell, Toby Creswell and Craig Mathieson, explained, "[it is] full of ghosts; figures appear and then disappear; people turn into nothingness as they blindly repeat their daily routines, and protagonists try to find a way to move from the world they know to the world they want." On the Triple J Hottest 100, 2001 "Monsters" as listed at No. 2, "Three Dimensions" at No. 13 and "Twenty Years" at No. 37; while Echolalia was listed as the top album for the year.
2003–2008: The Official Fiction, Desert Lights, and hiatus
On 15 August 2003 Something for Kate issued their fourth studio album, The Official Fiction, which is their first number-one album. On the Triple J Hottest 100, 2003, "Déjà Vu" was listed at No. 11 and "Song for a Sleepwalker" at No. 63; Official Fiction was listed at No. 6 on the Top 10 Albums of 2003. Ashworth described the group, "We're an album band not a singles band. We write albums and then the record company picks whatever they want to be the single. That's what's really difficult. So for you, you might get a very one-sided idea of what a band's like and then you put the album on and you go: 'Oh, I didn't realize they had this side.' That's where I think singles are a real fucker. I don't like it." They had recorded it over four months in Los Angeles with Brad Wood (Ben Lee, the Smashing Pumpkins, Liz Phair). Dempsey had started working on lyrics for it in the previous year, "Writing this record was difficult. But at the end of it, I've never been happier." Stephanie McDonald of FasterLouder felt its "sound has moved from one of raw, hard rock to something a lot more melodic with pop appeal... [the group] combines both those elements into something truly inspirational."
"Cigarettes and Suitcases", the lead single, was released in May 2006, which reached No. 23, while the follow-up single, "Oh Kamikaze", appeared in September and reached the top 40.
A compilation 2×CD album, The Murmur Years, was released on 18 August 2007 with one new song, "The Futurist". According to Nimmervoll "Notwithstanding a couple of one-off reunion shows for their ever-loyal following Something for Kate went into hiatus while their leader concentrated on writing for a solo album."
2012–2013: Reformation, Leave Your Soul to Science, and second hiatus
In mid-2012 Something for Kate resumed their recording career, six years after their previous studio effort. Dempsey said they looked for someone to contain them during the recording process: "We recognised an inclination or proclivity among ourselves to procrastinate and keep layering stuff up. We knew that we needed to fight that instinct and he was very much the guy to help us."
The band uploaded two songs from the album to the internet before its release ("Survival Expert" and "The Fireball at the End of Everything") and also played two live shows in Melbourne and Sydney to preview it. The album reached No. 5, "Miracle Cure" (December) and "Star-crossed Citizens" (May 2013).
As part of the band's mid-2013 Star-Crossed Cities Tour, Dempsey recorded Shotgun Karaoke video segments prior to each show, in which he performed cover versions of songs by artists, the Lemonheads, David Bowie, INXS, and Queen. The tour for ended in Hobart on 29 June 2013. By October that year Dempsey had resumed his solo career.
2020: The Modern Medieval
In April 2020, Something for Kate released "Situation Room", their first new track in eight years. It served as the lead single for the band's seventh studio album, which at the time was also titled Situation Room and a to-be-decided release date. In July 2020, the band released the album's second single, "Waste Our Breath". In September 2020, the band announced both the album's title as The Modern Medieval and its third single, "Supercomputer". On 1 October 2020, the album's fourth single, "Come Back Before I Come Back to My Senses" was released. The album was released on 20 November and debuted at Number 5 on the ARIA chart 2020.
Members
Current members
- Paul Dempsey – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards <small>(1994–present)</small>
- Clint Hyndman – drums, percussion <small>(1994–present)</small>
- Stephanie Ashworth – bass, percussion, occasional backing vocals <small>(1998–present)</small>
Current touring members
- Adrian Stoyles – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals <small>(2015–present)</small>
- Olivia Bartley − backing vocals, percussion, guitar, keyboards <small>(2020–present)</small>
Former members
- Julian Carroll – bass <small>(1994–1997)</small>
- Toby Ralph – bass <small>(1997–1998)</small>
Former touring members
- Phillip 'Pip' Branson – rhythm guitar, violin
- Wally Gunn – rhythm guitar, keyboards
- Simon Burke – keyboards
- Anthony Petrucci – rhythm guitar
- John Hedigan – guitar <small>(died 2019)</small>
Activism
In 2004, Something for Kate joined People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in its fight against animal cruelty. As part of their involvement, the band produced an advertisement protesting Kentucky Fried Chicken's (KFC) alleged cruelty to animals.
Dempsey is listed as a supporter of the "Oscar's Law" campaign against the factory farming of companion animals, together with other publicly known figures including musician Mark McEntee, comedian Mick Molloy and the Essendon Football Club.
Discography
- Elsewhere for 8 Minutes (1997)
- Beautiful Sharks (1999)
- Echolalia (2001)
- The Official Fiction (2003)
- Desert Lights (2006)
- Leave Your Soul to Science (2012)
- The Modern Medieval (2020)
Awards and nominations
APRA Awards
The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters". They commenced in 1982.
!
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| 2002
| "Monsters" (Paul Dempsey, Stephanie Ashworth, Clint Hyndman)
| Song of the Year
|
|
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| 2021
| "Situation Room" (Paul Dempsey, Stephanie Ashworth, Clint Hyndman)
| Song of the Year
|
|
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ARIA Music Awards
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. Something for Kate have been nominated for eleven awards.
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| 1999
| Beautiful Sharks
| Best Alternative Release
|
|-
| rowspan="6"| 2001
| rowspan="3"| Echolalia
| Album of the Year
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| Best Group
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| Best Alternative Release
|
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| "Monsters"
| Single of the Year
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| Bart Borghesi for Something for Kate – "Monsters"
| Best Video
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| Stephanie Ashworth for Something for Kate – Echolalia
| Best Cover Art
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|-
| rowspan="4"| 2003
| rowspan="3"| The Official Fiction
| Album of the Year
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| Best Group
|
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| Best Rock Album
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| Stephanie Ashworth & David Homer for Something for Kate – The Official Fiction
| Best Cover Art
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EG Awards / Music Victoria Awards
The EG Awards (known as Music Victoria Awards since 2013) are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2006.
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|rowspan="2"| 2012
| "Survival Expert"
| Best Song
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| Something for Kate
| Best Band
|
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References
External links
- phantomlimbs.net Something for Kate Discography & Tour Archive
- SFK for the Novice, fansite
- Behave short film