Sunk Loto are an Australian nu metal / alternative metal band formed in Gold Coast, Queensland in 1997. The band's founding members are Dane Brown on drums, his brother Jason Brown on vocals, Luke McDonald on guitar and Sean Van Gennip on bass guitar. Sunk Loto signed a recording contract with Sony Music Australia when the members' average age was 16 years. They released two studio albums, Big Picture Lies (13 October 2000) and Between Birth and Death (17 November 2003); both reached the ARIA Albums Chart top 50. Sunk Loto toured internationally between 1997 and 2007 headlining their own shows, appearing at major festivals such as The Big Day Out and Livid, and playing alongside international bands such as Sevendust, Korn and Deftones.
The group disbanded in December 2007, and after a 15-year hiatus the original members re-formed the band in 2022 and have since performed around Australia with 2 sold out national tours, and released their first new song in 20 years “The Gallows Wait” with new guitarist Rohan Stevenson after announcing they had parted ways with Luke McDonald.
The band have announced they intend to release new music and continue touring.
History
1997–1999: Formation and Society Anxiety
Sunk Loto formed as a heavy metal band, Messiah, in the Gold Coast, Queensland in March 1997 by Dane Brown on drums, his brother Jason Brown on lead vocals, Luke McDonald on guitar and Miles Matheson on bass guitar. Originally named Messiah, Jason Brown had met Luke McDonald at a local music store. Jason brought his younger brother Dane to practice sessions and McDonald's school mate, Sean Van Gennip joined the band when Miles decided to part ways, completing the new line-up.
In April 1999, the group signed with Epic Records when Dane was 13 and the band's oldest member, Van Gennip, was 17. It peaked in the ARIA Singles Chart top 40 at number 40. The administrator of Beatdust felt it "pays homage to its inspirations – elements of both Evil Empire era RATM and Deftones Around the Fur are heavily evident both musically and sonically throughout." The band performed at a range of festivals including Homebake, Big Day Out and Offshore. They then scored their first national tour in mid 2000 which a 5 week touro of Australia supporting the Testeagles. They then commenced writing and recording their debut studio album Big Picture Lies.
2000–2007: Big Picture Lies to Between Birth and Death
From 2000 to 2002 Adam Cox joined the band's live roster as their DJ, sampler and keyboardist. The band travelled to New York studio RPM to have it mixed by Michael Barbiero (Guns n Roses). According to Australian music journalist, Ed Nimmervoll, they were "never really happy with [the album]. They'd been rushed. They knew the songs could have been better if they'd had more time." However Cashmere was disappointed by the limited edition's bonus CD-ROM, which was "difficult to navigate, contentless, jerky horse poo."
Dom Alessio of Who the Hell noticed "They were being pushed by their label to be the next Silverchair." Besides taking time with their song writing they faced personal hardships including the death of a friend, drug addiction, divorce and their equipment being stolen. It peaked at number 48 on the ARIA Albums Chart, No. 13 on the ARIA Australasian Artists and No. 4 on the ARIA Heavy Rock & Metal chart.
Alessio observed, "the band were struggling with a falling popularity, as well as dealing with managers who were ripping them off. Then the SonyBMG merger resulted in Sunk being dropped from the label." The band announced three shows in SE Queensland that immediately sold out and further touring was announced for later in 2022.
The band announced on 22 August 2023 that guitarist and co-founder Luke McDonald was no longer in the band.
On September 4, 2023, Rohan Stevenson of Melbourne instrumental band 'I Built The Sky' was announced as McDonald's replacement, taking up lead guitar duties as a fulltime member of the band. On 3 October 2023, the band officially released the track The Gallows Wait, their first new music in almost 20 years.
Band members
Current members
- Jason Brown – lead vocals (1997–2007, 2022–present); rhythm guitar (2003–2007, 2022–present); bass guitar (1997–1998)
- Dane Brown – drums (1997–2007, 2022–present)
- Sean Van Gennip – bass guitar (1998–2006, 2022–present)
- Rohan Stevenson - Lead Guitar (2023–present)
Former members
- Luke McDonald- Lead Guitar, backing vocals (1997 -2007, 2022-2023)
- Miles Matheson – bass guitar (1997)
- Adam Cox – turntables, samples, keyboards (2000–2002; touring)
- Rob Kaay – bass guitar (2006–2007)
Timeline
Discography
Albums
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+List of studio albums, with release date and chart position shown
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album details
! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" | AUS<br/>
|-
! scope="row"| "Everything Everyway"
| 2003
| 46
| Between Birth and Death
|}